Cure The Soul
by Dru
Summary: The long, long, long awaited sequel to Cure The Senses! Jack, Owen, and Ianto have more adventures and troubles while dealing with their powers.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Cure The Soul  
Authors: Dru, Quallianmaghouin  
Rating: M  
Characters, Pairing: Jack/Owen/Ianto, Gwen, Tosh, Rhys, Janet and a small appearance by Andy  
Summary: The long, long, long awaited sequel to Cure The Senses! Jack, Owen, and Ianto have more adventures and troubles while dealing with their powers.  
WARNINGS/Authors Note: This took for bloody EVER to write! It didn't help we got distracted a few times by other fics, and then RL beat our asses for a while. But in the end it got written! Warning for...well some of you don't like the guides, so...sorry guys! A few sex scenes, and some weevil death (not Janet, don't worry!)

Owen sat back against the cold wall of the small bedroom, eyes drifting over his sleeping lovers, picking out every detail in in the near pitch blackness. The hub hummed quietly around them in the pre dawn stillness.

A small smirk crossed his face as he watched Ianto snuggle into the large pink cat that he was using as a pillow. The cat seemed perfectly happy with it's role, shaping the younger man's hair into cow licks with it's rough tongue, while one tentacle idly slapped the wall with the continual thwap-pop of suckers attaching and pulling away from the stone.

He had thought the sound would wake Jack, he never really did sleep soundly anymore, but Jack was curled up against Ianto, one arm thrown over the large black dog that was sprawled on top of him, legs tangled with Ianto's. The dog would occasionally stretch out a long leg and kick Owen, demanding to be petted or scratched.

As if on cue, the dog kicked out again, looking up at Owen, and wagging his tail once, letting it land with a lazy thud. Owen sighed and leaned over, scratching the base of it's tail, trying not to think of the insanity that was giving an imaginary animal butt skritchies.

Out of all the freaky shit that had happened since they touched the Deviled Egg, the animal guides had to be the absolutely most insane. For the most part they just saw them. A glimpse out of the corner of the eye, sometimes, if they were trying to hammer something though their human's heads, or blatant harassment, on the lion's part. It liked to stalk both Owen and Ianto, and Owen had lost track of how many times he had to chase it out of the showers. But for the most part they only showed up with they were meditating or sleeping. And that was the most insane thing. When they were sleeping the animals were _there_. Warm and furry and solid. And groping occasionally. Again, the lion.

He let his eyes close and took a deep breath, wrinkling his nose slightly and stretching, as much as was possible in the small cramped space. They really, _really _needed a bigger room. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life in this POW camp of a bedroom. Even if it was convenient for a midday shag.

Somehow, along the line somewhere, he and Ianto had unofficially moved in. It really said a lot, that the spare room they stored their clothes in was bigger than the one under the office.

Owen opened his eyes again when he heard his older lover start to wake up.

Jack shifted, crawling out from under the dog and away from Ianto. Ianto made a displeased noise in his sleep as the lion he'd been using as a living pillow faded away with one last nuzzle to the Ianto's head. The dog grumbled too and Jack gave them both a sleepy smile, nudging the dog until it rolled over and curled against Ianto, who sighed and fell back into a deeper sleep.

"Hey you." Jack said softly. "You're up...obscenely early." He leaned up against the wall next to Owen. "You sick?" He spoke in a whisper, pitched to not wake Ianto.

Owen snorted quietly. "No. Just couldn't sleep. I think Ianto switched laundry detergents or something. The smell was bothering me."

Jack nodded and twisted his arm to look at his watch. "Almost six. He should be waking up soon. Want to head up and start breakfast?"

"Ugh, not if you're going to be doing any of the cooking. I like some actual flavor in my food."

Jack stuck out his tongue. "Not my fault I can't stand tasting anything this early in the morning."

Owen snickered.

"What?" Jack asked, then leered. "You and Ianto don't count. You taste delicious all of the time."

Owen snorted. "Yeah, Yeah. Come on, I'll make you something properly bland and tasteless, and something edible for me and Yan."

"You know..." Jack drawled. "We could just have breakfast in bed." He nipped at Owen's bare shoulder, and then licked the red mark he had made. The mood was dampened by a loud rumbling growl from the younger man's stomach.

Jack pouted, as Owen pulled away and headed for the hatch. "Fine, fine. Food first. Then I can just ravish you on the counter."

He caught Owen as he wobbled trying to stand up on the mattress to reach the ladder.

"We're moving." Owen declared, changing subjects abruptly. "How about my place? I'm paying for the bloody flat, we might as well actually use it. Lots of nice counters for ravishing there."

Jack rolled his eyes and pushed Owen up the stairs. "I _like_ my room." It was familiar conversation to start the day. Ianto had briefly, seriously, pursued the idea of fixing up a larger room, before being shot down by the captain. For some reason unknown to either man, Jack was unnaturally attached to the tiny space.

"I have...shock, gasp, actual space. And a super king bed! And windows...." Owen muttered as they exited the trap door, closing it quietly behind them, leaving Ianto to sleep undisturbed.

---


	2. Chapter 2

Jack pushed the cart though the food store, coat billowing behind him dramatically. He was aware he looked slightly foolish, but didn't particularly care. Ianto, walking beside him, reading from a shopping list, in his neatly pressed three piece suit looked equally out of place.

"Alright we have bread, peanut butter, vegetables- Jack, put down those cakes - fruit, cereal, veggie burgers, tofu, tofurky, tofu burgers -" Ianto paused, and rolled his eyes. They had started making real meals at the hub, and Jack had gotten a bit obsessed with tofu. Ianto didn't particularly like it himself, but it was better than meat. Jack managed to miss the whole point of it, and would mix it in with the hamburger when he cooked for himself.

He grabbed a box of crackers as they passed by, and continued.

"Crackers. Frozen waffles, frozen dinners, frozen pizza, eggs, and all we need is the milk."

"I miss the days when we lived on take out." Jack muttered, putting the box of chocolate cakes back on the shelf. He picked up another box that promised "low fat" alternatives, and tossed them in the cart before Ianto could protest.

"Yes, well who knew _Owen _of all people would be such a food nazi?" Ianto sighed folding the list up and slipping it into his jacket pocket.

"I blame you. He never harassed me about my eating habits in all the months we were sleeping together." Jack accused lightly.

Ianto scowled. "Why would I turn him into a food nazi?"

"You're a vegetarian? You're mortal, and I'm not?" Jack asked then flinched violently at the deafening blast of the loud speaker calling for someone. Ianto reached out, placing a light hand on his captain's arm, stroking it lightly.

"Yes everything is my fault." Ianto admitted, with a playful role of his eyes. "Of course. You could be happily drowning your immortal organs in fat and grease, if it weren't for me." The sarcasm was rolling off the younger man so thickly it was threatening to actually puddle on the floor and cause a slipping hazard.

"Glad we both understand the situation." Jack grinned at his lover, and then switched gears. The entire point of the shopping trip had been to get Ianto out in to public again. Ianto had gotten surprisingly good at handling their emotions, even Gwen's, but the few lost tourists who came in to the store front weren't nearly enough to give Ianto any real amount of practice.

Jack pointed at a random person, picking up the game he'd been making Ianto play since they left the hub. "What's she feeling?"

"Bored." Ianto answered immediately, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Oh don't you give me that look. You're going to turn into a vampire bat at the rate you're going. You never leave the hub. You don't have any human contact outside the team. You need to start getting out again. We all do. We have to get back to our normal lives."

"Normal is over rated." Ianto grumbled pointing to random people. "Headache. PMS. Worrying about if he turned the stove off. Angry. And morning sickness."

Jack's eyebrow climbed. Ianto, for all his distaste for leaving the hub now, was getting good. He was hardly even flinching from people's emotions. Though he hated being around strangers. Jack wondered, briefly, if Ianto was simply making it up to humor him. He watched as the woman Ianto had labeled with morning sickness throw a pregnancy test kit into her cart and decided that Ianto probably wasn't lying.

"Stove?" he asked, amused.

"He was thinking about it really hard. I saw a flat go up in flames." Ianto tried to sound nonchalant, studying a display of packaged doughnuts intently.

"You sure it wasn't a vision?" Jack wanted to know. Ianto's premonitions were rare, but always accurate, and, to Ianto at least, unsettling.

"...fairly sure." Ianto paused, sighed and then leaned over, grabbing the man's arm. "You left your stove on." He said urgently.

Jack grabbed Ianto by the back of his coat and pulled him away as the man stared wide eyed, and pulled out his mobile, hopefully calling home and not the police.

"Ianto leave the nice man alone, and cool it with the crazy talk, yes?" Jack hissed.

Ianto opened his mouth to reply, but stumbled instead, heart rate spiking as fell against the doughnut display.

"Ianto?" Jack moved quickly to his side, senses scanning over him for injures or illness, as the man looked around wildly.

"Owen! That was Owen! Owen, get your slimy arse out here this minute, you bastard!" Ianto called out, pulling himself up.

Owen's head popped out from around a shelf and he grinned and waved, coming over to join his lovers. He tossed a bag of cheesy poofs into the cart.

"What are you doing and what just happened?" Jack demanded, keeping one arm around Ianto, looking from one to the other.

"Owen just, just threw emotions at me! If you can call them emotions... maybe more a vision...a graphic one." Ianto said.

"What?" Jack narrowed his eyes.

"Fuck me!" Owen announced, not at all quietly. "I just yelled 'fuck me' at him. Anything he saw came from his own twisted perversions." Owen looked in the cart, and pulled out the low fat cakes, tossing them back on the shelf.

Ianto's antics earlier had gotten the attention of nearby shoppers, and Owen's proclamation cemented their interest. One older woman tutted, shaking her head.

Jack pasted on his most charming smile, and laughed loudly, grabbing a package of doughnuts and tossing it in the cart. "So sorry! They're off their medication! I should get them back to the home!" he pushed Ianto towards the cart, and grabbed Owen by the scruff of the neck, herding them both to the front of the store

"I swear if you get us banned from another food store I will hurt you both!" Jack threatened though his teeth, swatting Owen's hand as it reached for the bag of doughnuts.

"Not my fault!" Ianto hissed back.

"What? It was a test! A scientific test of Ianto's shielding abilities!" Owen tried to reason. He turned to Ianto when Jack let him go. "I commend you! I was expecting you to jump me and fuck me right here in the middle of the store."

"Owen!" Ianto's face flamed. "Could you possibly say that any louder?!" He glanced around, pushing the cart a little faster.

"Well ok. I was expecting you to jump-"

Ianto's hand clamped over Owen's mouth before he could yell any more.

Jack rolled his eyes as they reached the register, and started to unload the cart quickly.

"Do you two have to be so…" he searched for the right word. "Odd?" Not that they had been exactly normal before they had been changed. Neither of them had particularly good social skills.

Owen stuck out his tongue and Ianto reached into Jack's greatcoat, pulling out his wallet and counting out the right amount of cash. He raised an eyebrow at his captain, as he tucked the wallet back into Jack's pocket. "Says the man wearing period military?"


	3. Chapter 3

Ianto felt Jack poking at his shields again, like a little child wanting attention. He sighed and strengthened the psychic bubble he had created around him, refusing to give Jack the satisfaction of knowing the testing was getting to him.

On an intellectual level Ianto knew it was completely necessary to continually test his shields, but there were days when he was hard-pressed not to strangle the other man. Jack was such a child. He'd actually tried playing the 'I'm not touching you! Not touching you!' child's game the other day, egged on by Owen, of course.. And the man dared to scold him and Owen for being children? At least they weren't over 150 years old and still acting like they were in primary school. Ianto supposed that Jack was just glad to have someone to play psychic games with. He wondered if everyone in the 51st century went around poking each other in the brain all the time.

He sighed, took a deep breath, and pushed the annoyance from his mind, letting the very beginnings of a headache follow the unhelpful emotion.

In the back seat Owen was too busy reading a tabloid he had snuck in the cart to pick up on Jack's attempts at baiting Ianto. He had taken a taxi, planning to ride home with the other two men, only slightly put out when Ianto had refused his suggestion of making out in the backseat while Jack drove home. Occasionally he would comment on an article, or scribble a note in the margin if the picture looked too good to be photoshop, though Ianto seriously doubted that the jersey devil was holidaying in St. David's.

The phone vibrated in Jack's greatcoat pocket and Ianto jumped. After a brief but futile struggle between the long coat and the driver's side door, it had been balled up and thrown onto Ianto's lap, putting Jack's mobile in the unfortunate position to buzz against the Welshman's crotch as it rang again. He dug it out quickly, and put it on speakerphone, "Harkness." He said, answering for Jack.

"Ianto? Is Jack-"

"Right here." Jack called, waving briefly at the mobile.

"Jack, it's Tosh. We have a weevil sighting, you have to go get it."

"Why us?" Owen whined, throwing his tabloid into the foot.

"Because it's near a school, and you guys took the SUV to go on a milk run." Tosh told him not missing a beat. "Sending the information to the on board computer." She hung up as soon as she heard the navigation system beep.

Jack checked the coordinates and quickly headed in the right direction, flipping the warning lights on. Ianto reached under the seat, pulling out a weevil containment kit, passing out the spray and cuffs, while taking a mental inventory of the groceries piled beside Owen. Nothing that should go bad too quickly.

--

The SUV pulled to a stop outside the school and they all slid out.

"Keep your eyes open. It could be anywhere, and we don't want any kids getting hurt."

The three men took off, senses scanning out for the weevil. "Smell it. This way." Owen said taking the lead.

Despite the overcast day, Owen was squinting in pain. Ianto felt the stabs of pain flickering though his own skull in response. He pulled a pair of sunglasses out and handed them to Owen. "I keep telling you to carry a pair with you."

"I keep losing them." Owen muttered slipping them on, and the pain in Ianto's head faded.

Ianto felt a rough, clumsy poke at his shields and glared at the back of Jack's head. What was the man thinking, screwing around at a time like this?

He shook his head and focused on the alley in front of him, trying to keep alert for any signs of the weevil that had been sighted in the area.

All three of their heads swiveled as a loud growl echoed down the ally. They turned and saw the weevil crouching low, growling and watching them.

She was large. Larger then the average weevil they caught, and damned bold, to be out this time of day. Her eyes seemed to view them with disdain, and she grumbled deep in her throat.

Owen moved in front of Ianto and Jack, his own lips pulling back, baring white teeth, and growling.

Ianto put a hand on Owen's shoulder, trying to calm him down. It was times like this he worried Owen was spending too much time with the weevils. "Coc Oen" he whispered warningly. "Behave."

Jack held up the weevil spray. "Come on... mmm.." He paused and eyed the weevil. "Marcia. We can't leave you here. You're coming home with us, the hard way, or the easy way. What's it gonna be?" he asked the weevil cheerfully.

The weevil, Marcia?, Ianto sighed. There were downsides to giving Jack vintage television programs. Marcia stared at them. She studied Jack first, dismissing him quickly. She spent more time on Owen, sweeping her eyes up and down before giving a short snort of disgust. As she turned her eyes to Ianto he felt a series of sharp rough shoves against his shields.

Shocked at Jack's complete lack of common sense, Ianto turned his head, opening his mouth to yell at the other man.

As soon as his eyes left hers, the weevil hissed and rushed towards Ianto.

"Yan!" Owen grabbed Ianto's elbow, yanking him out of the way, and Jack stepped forward, spraying her in the face, but missed hitting her fully, only slowing her down for a moment. She shook it off and lunged at him again.

Ianto snagged her by the back of the neck, spinning her around to face Owen, who hissed loudly. She cowered back for only a second, but it was long enough for Owen to raise the spray, hitting her directly in the face, stunning her.

Ianto clamped on the cuffs, and the three men hauled Marcia back to the SUV, sedating the weevil before lifting her up into the black vehicle.

As Ianto secured the lock on the SUVs weevil cage he grit his teeth in annoyance. Jack was still prodding at his shields, though much more weakly. Adrenaline always made Ianto's shields shaky, something Jack knew all too well. He concentrated, raising his shield as far as they could go. He made the shields thicker until he could barely see or hear the real world around him. But at least he couldn't feel Jack's attempts to get through his shields.

Really though, what was Jack thinking?


	4. Chapter 4

Owen was leaning forward in his office chair, studying the computer screen intently when Ianto brought his coffee. Ever since their new arrival had been tucked away he had been looking at readings from the weevil's cell. One section of the screen was devoted to a live feed from O.C., the small orb camera hovering high enough in the cell to be out of reach. The rest of the screen was filled with graphs, charts, readouts, and a small naked woman jiggling her pixelated assets in the corner.

Ianto handed over the mug, and then rested his hand on Owen's shoulder. "Find anything?"

Owen shook his head, enlarging the weevil's screen. "Other then her size, nothing different from the average weevil. But...the other weevils seemed to be scared of her. I think... I think she may be a dominant weevil or something. An Alpha female maybe?"

"Think she's challenging your dominance?" Ianto asked, amusement streaking his voice. Marsha had made it quite clear exactly how little she thought of the doctor in the little time she had been there.

Owen snorted and shook his head. "I don't know."

Jack, lured from his office by the promise of coffee, came up behind them and wrapped his arms around Owen, kissing his neck. "You'll always be top weevil to me."

Owen laughed. "You are such a romantic." He muttered, tilting his head to give Jack better access. "Always know how to charm a guy."

Jack watched the weevil pace and snarl on the monitor screen. "Are you sure there's nothing different about it? The way the other weevils are reacting..." The others, down to just two at the moment, were huddling against the walls of their own cells, trying to disappear into the brickwork.

"The computer's been scanning since we bought her in. I could go down there and try to run a few more scans I guess." Owen shook his head. "I've been doing more research into weevils psychic powers. Being as how I'm a lot more sure the whole psychic powers thing is real."

Ianto snorted, pushing a tiny wave of amusement at Owen, laughing when the doctor turned to stare at him.

"Like I said. Real. Maybe this is a weevil psychic thing." He looked over at Ianto. "All right Showoff, Feel like giving me a hand? You're a hell of a lot better than me."

Ianto leaned over him, tapping a few keys so the results of the scans would print out. "What did you tell me they said about you? 'The psychic equivalent of a brussel sprout.'?"

Owen made a face. "Yeah that's about what they said. Not all of us can be perfect like you."

Ianto pulled him into for a quick kiss. "Poor psychic powerless thing. Of course I'll help you."

Jack pouted playfully. "What? I don't get kisses?"

"I'm comforting my poor brussel sprout, here. Your psychic powers are fine."

"So you only kiss those who suck at psychic stuff? That's discrimination." Jack tried out the puppy eyes.

Ianto rolled his eyes and pulled Jack in for a quick kiss too. "You are such a child. ' He picked up the stack of papers, still warm from the printer and lightly hit Jack with them.

"Speaking of psychic powers by the way, what were you thinking, distracting me in the middle of a weevil hunt? I mean yes, I can understand the concept of my needing to get used to being distracted, without getting...distracted, but you could have warned me first."

Jack gave him a blank look. "What?"

"While we were looking for the new weevil, what did you name her? Marcia? You kept poking at my shields. I didn't mind you poking me in the SUV-" Ianto thumped Owen's ear when he laughed. "But not during the middle of a chase"

Jack looked concerned. "Ianto I haven't poked your shields since before we got to the school."

"Try it now." Ianto said, and he felt a practiced, warm nudge.

"It's not the same. It was.. rougher… more crude." He felt another nudge, clumsier but still warm, Owen looked up at him expectantly, and Ianto shook his head. "Not you either."

All three of them looked at the screen again. "Could she...?"

Owen frowned. "Maybe? I don't know, we still don't know a lot about weevils."

"Hmm...lets go down and see." Ianto said decisively.

"I don't know if that's such a good Ianto. If it can interfere with your shields...." Jack trailed off looking worried.

"It'll be fine. We need to find out what's going on. If weevil's are evolving, or if this is some sort of sub-species we haven't seen before, we need to know about it." Ianto insisted.

Owen ran a hand over Jack's arm. "I'll keep a eye on him." He reassured.

"And while we're doing that, _you _have work you should be doing." Ianto said, giving Jack a look. "Weevil migrations aren't the most interesting thing, but it needs to be done." He gave him a gentle nudge towards the monitors with his hip.

Jack rolled his eyes and laughed. "Yes sir." He threw up a quick salute, stealing both Owen's chair and coffee as Owen and Ianto made their way to the archives.


	5. Chapter 5

Owen automatically dialed down his sense of smell as they walked though the doorway into the cells. One weevil smelled bad enough, let alone three. At least Ianto had cleaned down here recently, after the Delelpin had exploded itself in cell five. Bleach smelled much nicer than alien entrails.

The long-term residents pressed against the glass when they saw Owen and Ianto, clawing at the doors. Janet snarled and OC squeaked, and chattered loudly from his vantage point in Marcia's cell when he caught sight of Ianto.

Ianto frowned. "I think they're just trying to get away. They're scared. Marcia, what are you doing to them?" He scolded the newest arrival quietly, trying to soothe the upset weevils.

Owen shot a glare at Marcia and pulled out a weevil-configured scanner, pointing it at her. "Definitely picking up psychic activity. See the colored bits on her head there?" Owen tapped the small picture on the screen. "Seems stronger then normal. Weevils are pretty low level, mostly greens and blues, more empathy between them. This one's gone all purpley. Looks a bit like when you're having one of your psychic fits. Are you getting anything?"

Ianto paused. "You've been scanning me when I meditate?"

"Had to do something. Jack wouldn't let me scribble on you with the sharpies." Owen shrugged. "So do you feel anything from her?"

Ianto moved away from Janet's cell and moved closer to Marcia. "She's still...poking my shields. She seems angry, though that's not strange for a weevil."

"Can you try lowering your shields a little? Maybe get a better feel on her?"

Ianto nodded, closing his eyes. He flinched and let out a pained gasp. Owen was at his side instantly, arm wrapped around him.

"I'd say no." Ianto shook his head as if shaking off cobwebs.

"Are you okay?" Owen asked in concern, running a hand up and down his arm comfortingly.

"It's nothing, I'm fine." He was watching the weevil crouch and snarl, eyes focused on him. "She's projecting anger, violence. So many negative emotions. She's most definitely the cause of the others distress." Ianto frowned and squinted his eyes, obviously concentrating. Marcia stumbled back, looking startled.

Ianto wavered, sagging against Owen for a brief moment before straightening up and rubbing his temples.

"Ianto?" Owen asked quietly.

"Just gave her a little shove. Showed her whose boss, and all."

"You know that gives you headaches." Owen muttered, rubbing soothing circles against the Welshman's back.

They had found out Ianto could physically affect living things, and oddly enough OC. Owen had been on the wrong side of it once or twice, and the only thing he could compare it to was descriptions he had heard about heat waves. Not exactly real, but strong enough to knock you on your ass. It was creepy as hell, which was probably why Ianto hated using his abilities like that. I:

"Yes, well it's minor. We can't have her terrorizing everyone, and poking me constantly. It'll be fine, it passes in a few minutes."

"I don't like you being in pain. Jack was right, this was a bad idea. You should go; I'll finish up scanning. She can't hurt me."

Ianto shook his head firmly. "No. I'm not going to be scared off by one pissy weevil. I'm staying."

Owen growled, stepping between Ianto and the weevil's cell as he picked up his scanner. The purple areas were smaller, so at least it looked like their new arrival was behaving.

"You are such a stubborn ass." He grumbled.

"That's why you love me." Ianto answered with a smirk, keeping a strict eye on the weevil in front of them.

The weevil snarled softly.


	6. Chapter 6

The team was gathered in the conference room a few days later. Ever since Marcia had arrived there had been non stop weevil activity. Sightings had increased dramatically, even in the daytime, but thankfully attacks had been rare.

Jack stood at the head of the table, a small smirk on his face despite the situation, loving, as always being the center of attention. Investigations always reminded him of the old mystery movies. There was something very sexy about being the lead man in a mystery movie.

Ianto cleared his throat, and Jack startled from his thoughts. The Welshman was giving him a look that somehow managed to be amused and disapproving all at once. He had to wonder, sometimes, just how much Ianto could read from his mind.

Jack gave him a blinding smile, and started the meeting off, sliding a stack of folders down the long table. Gwen caught them, distributing them to the other team members.

"Okay so something is up with the weevils. Either they're changing, a new sub-species has popped up, or… something else. This is obviously not a good thing." Jack began.

"What do we know so far? Ianto?"

"I'm not quite sure." Ianto answered, he studied the wood grain on the table for a moment, before getting up suddenly and starting to pace. Jack imagined he could almost hear the padding of soft paws following him across the room.

"If they're anything like Marcia, they're defiantly more powerful. According to Owen's scans she's rating higher psy levels then weevils normally do, and well I do spend a bit of time with them every day, and none of them have ever interacted with me like that."

"Specifics." Owen said shortly, without looking up, already scribbling notes on the front of the folder.

"She's testing my shields… um, sort of the way you'd jiggle the handle on a locked door. Well, more like kicking at a locked door. I think she's just curious."

"Physical symptoms?" The doctor asked.

"It makes my brain itch." Ianto said with a shrug, and Tosh let out a laugh.

"It does." He defended himself, before continuing. "We know they all have some sort of connection, we've seen them react to each others pain, death, but this is the first time one has tried anything with me. I didn't think they were even...aware of me. Jack, have you ever sensed anything from them like that?"

"Nope, never." Jack said with a quick head shake.

"Exactly." Ianto said, finally stilling, leaning against the wall near Jack. "So what's different about this weevil?

"Owen? You've been running tests for days, you got anything new for us?"

"Well like I told you before, there doesn't seem to be any difference. She's a..weevil. She's bigger, healthier, maybe a better diet? But I can't explain how that could increase her psychic powers. Or, for that matter how this one weevil is eating better then the other weevils. Weevils eat...anything. I've never seen a weevil suffer malnutrition. They'll eat shit, for fucks sake."

"Hmm well I've been working on weevil migration all afternoon, and I have some disturbing results." Jack stood up and went to a cork board map of Cardiff that was propped against the wall, filled with color coded pins. "Weevils are on the move. We've had sightings popping up more frequently. Now the odd thing is, all of the day sightings? They're heading towards where we picked up Marcia, and even taking into account some exaggeration they're bigger than usual. The weevils that we've tagged and released though, they're all heading away from there."

Tosh raised a hand. "Jack there's a button in the database that shows that." She typed something on her computer, and on the monitor at the head of the table a map of the city popped up with glowing pins. "You can even click them for more information." She tapped a few more keys and the screen split, showing another map, with moving dots that indicated the tagged weevils.

Jack scowled playfully and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest. "Show off. So anyway, the weevils are on the move. Why?"

Gwen leaned forward. "We've had even more police reports come in. We've had more weevil sightings today then we've had in the last week. So far no attacks, but I don't know how long that's going to last."

"Ianto...I don't suppose to you could have a vision, or something about this right about now huh?"

Ianto rolled his eyes. "It doesn't work like that. I can't see the future!" his hand shot out and grabbed Jack's map a split second before it started to fall, and Jack lifted an eyebrow.

Ianto sighed. "I'm not a Magic 8 Ball Jack. I can't just shake my head and come up with something. The visions come when they feel like it."

"Forget weevils, we want lottery numbers!" Owen said. leaning forward with a grin.

"27 18 42 55 12 07. Can we be serious now?"

Owen and Tosh both scribbled down the numbers before nodding.

Jack sat back and tapped his fingers against the table." So...we have a lot of questions, no answers, a bunch of scared and running weevils, and possibly a new, bigger, meaner type of weevil to deal with. Wonderful."

He sighed before, standing up. "Okay team, lets keep out eyes open for any more information we can get. Be ready to move out if there's any reports of weevil attacks or weevil's in populated areas."

They all pushed back from the table, standing, when Ianto froze. Gwen was the first to reach him, touching his elbow. "Ianto? " she asked gently.

He blinked and looked embarrassed, rubbing at his ear. "Um we're going to have another sighting any minute. Near the chip shop around the corner."

The others stared for a second, and Jack grinned. They still hadn't gotten used to Ianto's scattershot psychic abilities, and Ianto hadn't gotten used to the attention it garnered.

"Good to know!" Jack clapped his hands together, and his grin widened. "Thanks for the heads up."

"I'll make coffee." Ianto murmured, moving quickly from the room, still blushing slightly.


	7. Chapter 7

Owen rubbed at his temples, trying to will away the pain. It wasn't working. He had a full out migraine, and it was growing. His skull throbbed in time with his pulse, the light was stabbing his eyes worse then normal, and it seemed like every single scent in the hub was combining under his nose. Nausea danced at the back of his throat.

It had been a solid week of the new weevils causing trouble, day and night. The cells were rapidly filling with them. Owen had been trying to control the weevils, to keep Ianto away from them. Every single new Weevil was pushing and shoving at his shields, and even though Ianto seemed to be handling it, Owen was not happy in the least.

It was all driving him insane, and despite the morning meditations Ianto still enforced, his stress levels were though the roof. His senses seemed to object to it too, and even when he wasn't wanting to curl into a tiny pathetic little ball of pain, his head still throbbed. Luckily everyone else was as busy and distracted as he was, and seemed not to notice. It probably helped that he was hiding in the autopsy bay.

Owen desperately just wanted to take some nice strong drugs and go lay down in a cool dark room for a while, but as Ianto liked to lecture him, he and Jack no longer mixed well with most drugs. He didn't feel like having a bad drug reaction on top of his migraine, and he just didn't have time to go nap. And crawling into bed whimpering would tip off the others that something was wrong.

He leaned over the autopsy table, pressing his forehead against the cool metal, trying to breathe slowly. God it _hurt_! He pushed him self up, hearing the others moving around. It was probably nearly time for meditation. Though Tosh and Gwen, lucky girls, were given a free pass to monitor the weevil activity, Ianto still expected both Jack and Owen to meditate with him in the mornings. He was fairly sure it was the only thing keeping Ianto sane this week.

Fucking great. Owen grabbed the bottle of aspirin and hissed seeing it was almost empty. He dry swallowed the last four pills, making a mental note to order more, and schooled his features to hide his pain as he headed up to the conference room.

Jack was already there, talking quietly to Ianto. He turned when Owen came in, giving him a dazzling smile, which quickly turned into a frown.

"You woke up before us again."

"Wanted to get some work done." Owen muttered vaguely, heading towards the water pitcher on the table. He could feel Jack's eyes drilling into his back.

"And you went to bed after us. Owen are you feeling okay? You're not sleeping much lately." Jack cocked his head to the side and frowned. "And your heart rate is pretty high."

"S'fine. Too much coffee or something."

Jack ran a hand along Owen's neck. "Are you sure? You look pale."

God did Jack have to be in coddle mode _now_?! It was hard enough hiding the fact he wanted to go sob in a corner, throw up, then die. "I'm English. I'm always pale." Owen said lightly, pouring a glass of water and downing it quickly before settling down on the floor.

Ianto dropped down next to him, and frowned in concerned, pressing light fingers against his temples. "Coc Oen? What's wrong?"

Owen felt an unreasonable surge of anger and snarled sharply before he could stop him self. "Would you stop that?! Don't fucking call me that. Didn't think I could use fucking Google did you?"

Owen could still feel Ianto tracing circles against his skin, though his fingers trembled the tiniest bit.

"Been having a great laugh behind my back! Calling me 'Lambs cock'!" Owen laughed harshly, knowing he really should stop. "Whole time thinking it was one of your soppy terms of endearment, and you're insulting me to my face, you fucking Welsh bastard!"

Ianto made a soft, concerned noise. "It is a term of endearment... Owen, what's wrong? You're not acting like your self." He frowned in concentration, then winced violently. "Oh Owen..."

Owen felt a tingling at the back of his mind that felt almost like concern, and the feeling of cool water. That would be Ianto. Sometimes, if he tried hard enough, the younger man could leave impressions of emotions or physical sensations. Owen really shouldn't have snapped at him.

"What?" Owen didn't think the innocent act would work, but he had to try.

"You're in pain..." Ianto said softly, stroking Owen's face. "You should be laying down love. And on pain killers."

Jack dropped to the floor next to them, looking deeply concerned. "Owen? Tell me what's wrong."

Owen sighed, giving up, and dropped his head to his knees. "Can't take anything. Really don't feel like adding weird drug reactions to my migraine. I took some aspirin. I'll live."

"Migraine? They make medications especially for migraines. Maybe we can run some tests and see if one of them is safe for you to take." Ianto said softly, gently stroking Owen's hair. "At the very least you should go lay down in bed for a while."

"No time. Too much work to do. More weevils are popping up everyday. The cells are getting full, we're going to have to release some, or move into another level. And with how aggressive those ones are..." Owen groaned.

"We can handle things for a few hours." Jack said. "Go lay down."

Owen shook his head, then suddenly paled further. Ianto reacted with lightening instincts, and had a wastebasket in his hands just in time

Ianto stroked his shoulder, making nonsense soothing noises, as Owen heaved.

When Owen lifted his head, Ianto was staring at him in horror.. "Oh god."

"What?" Owen wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and winced at the blood. "Fuck. Took four aspirin on a empty stomach." He explained quickly. "Must have messed up my stomach lining."

Both of his lovers looked doubtful.

"It's nothing, it'll hurt for a couple days, but I'm not dying. ...okay, I might get an ulcer, but I'll live."

"Coc-" Ianto stopped himself. "Owen, you need to take better care of your self. you're no good to us like this."

Owen snorted at the familiar words thrown back at him.

"Let us take care of you." Ianto said, half command, half request.

"I'm fine." He assured.

"You're using the dreaded F word. You're lucky I'm not calling an ambulance." Jack replied with some humor, as he rubbed Owen's tense shoulders.

Owen could smell the concern rolling off both of the men, and his empty stomach flopped over again.

Ianto moved the waste basket out of the way, and wrapped a gentle hand around Owen's wrist, pulling him forward. "Come on. Lay back." Ianto ordered, shifting his position, and guiding Owen until he was laying on the floor with his head in Ianto's lap.

"What? Yan, come on."

"No, lay down. Relax. Breathe with me. Come on, we've been meditating for months, you know what to do."

Owen sighed, but gave in, consciously relaxing into Ianto's embrace, trying to match his breathing to the younger man's.

---

The conference room faded and Ianto opened his eyes to find them in another world.

They had been meditating together for a little over two months now, and after a shaky start, it was working amazingly well. They'd figured out how to go to places other then the woods, and Jack used most of his meditation time recreating alien worlds for his lovers, with Ianto's help.

Right now Ianto chose something calm, and quiet.

Ianto had envisioned a calm, peaceful lake . The deep blue water lapped gently against the shore, the trees swayed in the breeze, birds and animals chattered quietly in the background.

Ianto slowly ran his fingers though Owen's hair, as he leant back against the tree that grew up behind him. They were in the same position they'd been in the conference room. Owen's head pillowed in Ianto's lap.

Owen whimpered. "Still hurts,"

"Shhh, Coc O-. Hush love. It's okay, breathe. Close your eyes, relax. Listen to my voice. " He reached out, feeling Owen's pain and gently tried to unravel it, pushing it away from the other man.

"Picture a dial. It's your pain. Do you see it?" When Owen nodded Ianto continued. "It's turned all the way up, as far as it can go. Slowly, very slowly turn it down. Feel the pain slowly fade, melting away. Keep turning it down till the pain is all gone."

Ianto encouraged Owen, hand sliding down to rub his shoulders lightly, and repeating his instructions until he felt Owen's tense muscles relax, and his breathing slowed and deepened.

"Relax, just breathe. Let go of all your stress and worry, just let the peace and calm sink into you."

As Owen took his advice, Ianto sighed, lifting his head to stare up at the sky between the branches of the tree. Instead he saw Jack's swamp lion, sprawled out on a thick limb, watching them. It waved a tentacle at him cheekily. Ianto shook his head and turned his attention back to Owen.

He let several minutes pass before he spoke again. "You can't let things get this bad. I know you just didn't want to worry or distract us, but we love you, and we don't want to see you in this kind of pain. What would you do if you found out I was hiding injuries from you?"

"Throttle you." Owen said instantly.

"Right. So why do you think we'd do anything else? You were nearly falling over!.You were vomiting blood, Owen!"

"That was from the aspirin."

"Which you should know better then to take _four _of on a empty stomach." Ianto scolded.

Owen sighed. "I know, I know. I was in pain and just wanted it to stop."

Ianto leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Which is why you need to tell us when you're hurt, so we can help you."

Owen opened his eyes and looked up at Ianto. "I know. It's just...with everything going on this week... I didn't want to-" Owen stopped and frowned staring into space. "I don't know, I didn't want to look weak. We're all under the same stress, but I'm the only one curled up in a ball of pain."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Owen if I didn't love you so much, I'd shoot you..."he paused, and admitted. "again. You idiot. Everyone reacts to stress differently. And we all have different jobs, different stresses. And don't think I don't know about you trying to control and weevils to keep me away from them. That can't have helped your migraines."

Owen winced. "Is there _anything _you don't know about?"

"I have absolutely no idea about those dirty magazines you keep in your desk drawer, if that helps. Are you going to promise me you're not going to do this again? You're going to come to us when your hurting? Or am I going to have to worry I'm going to find you keeled over dead one of these days?"

"Oh don't be such a drama queen...fine. Yes I promise I'll tell you when I'm in pain, okay? Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." Ianto said dryly. "And just so you know I'm dragging you down to the autopsy bay for a check up when we wake up."

"Ianto! That's exactly why I didn't want to say anything! We're swamped! We don't have time for that."

"What we don't have time for is one of us getting sick to the point where we wind up in the hospital. We have time to take care of our health. And my I add again, vomiting blood! We're checking for internal bleeding." Ianto felt vaguely like he was a preschool teacher scolding a misbehaving toddler. Being that this was his lover he was talking to, that was a creepy feeling.

Owen rolled his own eyes. "Yes sir." He suddenly grinned. "You know, time passes differently in here... We have time for a quickie!"

Ianto laughed and carefully worked his way out from under Owen, stretching out beside him instead. He felt a soft thump as the swamp lion jumped out of the tree, padding over to flop down on their legs. "Remember what happened the last time we did that?"

"It was amazing?" Owen said hopefully.

"Granted. But I was so exhausted when we got back I couldn't move for hours afterwards. Just because it doesn't make you tired doesn't mean it's a good idea." Ianto gave his lover a light kiss before settling down, sliding one arm over to rest possessively against his hip. "I think we do have time for a nap though." He said, grinning at Owen's grumble of annoyance

000

Jack sat next to the still forms of his lovers, his hearing focused on their hearts, eyes flickering over them in worry. He knew they'd been busy lately, but how could he have not noticed his lover was this sick? True, they hadn't been around each other as much in the past few days, but they still spent the nights together. How long had he been having migraines? He seemed fine, if exhausted, last night.

Jack looked down as the wolverine made a pained noise and pressed against him. Sighing he reached over, scooping the small animal into his lap, petting and comforting it.

The dog pressed against his side, nuzzling both him and the wolverine in turn. Jack reached over and scratched the dogs ears with one hand as he cuddled the wolverine with the other.

"It'll be okay." He reassured them. "Ianto'll fix it. He fixes everything."

The three of them sat like that, the wolverine slowly relaxing, the tension and pain draining from the small body.

After a long wait, the bodies pressing against him began to fade, with a last fain nuzzle from the dog, as the bodies in front of him stirred, and their heart rates speed up to a waking rate.

He leaned forward running his fingers though Owen's hair. Owen cautiously opened one eye, sighed and opened the other. "Feeling better?"

Owen paused, looking like he was thinking it over. "Yeah. Yeah I am."

Jack looked up to Ianto for confirmation, and the younger man nodded.

"Good. Now I can kill you without feeling guilty. Do _not _scare me like that!"

Owen sighed and sat up, briefly wincing and pressing a hand against his stomach. "I suppose now you're gonna lecture me too? I already got one in there, and he wouldn't even have a quickie with me after..."

"I'm not going to lecture you, I've known you long enough to know that does no good. I'm just going to tell you that if you ever do anything like this again, I will lock you in a cell for your own protection. You idiot." Jack pulled him forward and kissed him hard and fast.

Ianto sighed and pushed him self off the floor, holding out a hand to Owen. "Come on. Exam time. After that you're going to go lay down and get some rest. Don't argue with me, you look exhausted, you can't have been sleeping well lately."

"You are so fucking bossy..." Owen grumbled while he was pulled to his feet.

"Yes. Now move it." Ianto gave him an amused smirk and a small shove to the shoulder. "hup to."

The three trooped out of the conference room, Jack taking a slight detour to explain the situation to Tosh and Gwen, while Ianto bullied Owen down into the autopsy bay.

Before he even made it over to the two women, a nearby computer started beeping, reporting another possible weevil sighting. Jack sighed.

"Once more, into the breach" He muttered, snagging a cup of cold coffee as he passed Owen's desk.


	8. Chapter 8

The black SUV moved though the quiet suburb, Ianto at the wheel. Nervous energy hummed at the edge of Ianto's brain, coming from himself as well as Tosh and Jack. It was never good when Weevils got into densely populated areas like this. Too much chance of a civilian getting hurt or killed. The only thing on their side was that it was the middle of the night, so no worries about children. At least he hoped not.

It didn't help either his or Jack's nerves that for the first time in two and a half months Owen wasn't with them. He was fine, all things considered. After making the doctor run some tests on himself, Ianto was still worried about Owen's health and had in all honesty grounded him. The older man had puttered about the hub until just a few hours ago, when he had started wincing and Ianto had herded his lover up to Jack's office, forcing him to take a nap on the couch.

Gwen was left back to baby sit, with orders to sedate him and strap him to the autopsy table if he didn't behave him self and rest. She was also providing support for the rest of the team.

"Ianto? Take a left at the next road. That's where the last sighting was reported." Gwen's voice came though the comms, directing them.

"Gwen? How's Owen?" Ianto questioned.

"He's fine. I have the CCTV up. He's resting on the couch in Jack's office. And _yes _I have the computer monitoring his vitals, he's fine." Gwen's tone of voice said she'd been repeating this information for quite a while now.

Ianto gave a small smile. "I'm sorry, I know I'm obsessing, I'm just not used to being away from him, and you didn't see how sick he looked..."

"I know sweetheart. It's okay. You love him. I'm keeping a close eye on him for you. Babysat all though my tweens and teens. I can handle Owen."

"Just as long as you don't _handle _Owen. He's not yours!" Jack cut in with a filthy grin, and Ianto reached out to lightly smack him in the side without taking his eyes off the road. Behind them Tosh let out a delicate snort before turning her attention back to her computers.

"Oh like I'd shag her anyway!" Owen muttered over his own comm, sounding grumpy and half asleep. "Well maybe if she brings coffee."

Ianto rolled his eyes. Owen liked to pretend his whole affair with Gwen had never happened. Although he was fairly positive Owen hadn't actually retconned him self.

"It was just a joke Yan." Owen said, as if sensing his lover's expression.

"Joke?" Ianto tried to sound affronted. "How could you joke about something like that? I mean, I could see an office fling, but to let someone else make you _coffee_?"

"What about hot chocolate?" Owen asked.

"Hot chocolate's fine." Ianto replied, turning sharply as Jack pointed towards the right street. He pulled over to one side, putting the SUV into park.

"Okay boys, play time's over, we're here." Jack said quietly, professionalism coming to the fore, as they slid out. "Keep your eyes peeled for the weevil."

Ianto and Tosh paused when Jack held up and hand, and tilted his head listening. He pointed and started moving and they all followed.

Soon they heard the same thing Jack had. Growling, and then a shape stepped out of the darkness. The weevil was here, she was _huge _and she was mad. Ianto could feel it, her anger swirling around all of them. Without warning she lunged forward.

Jack threw him self at the weevil, his body slamming into her larger one, trying to knock her off balance so he could spray and subdue her.

She tossed him like a rag doll, and he crashed to the ground, straight into a mud puddle. Ianto winced.

Tosh aimed with her gun, not wanting to fire in such a densely populated area and bring notice, and not wanting to have to kill the weevil if they didn't have to. Ianto could feel the indecision rolling off of her. They knew from experience it would take far more than one bullet to eliminate the alien threat.

Ianto took a deep breath and concentrated on the Weevil, who was standing still, watching him. He reached out with his mind, giving her the most powerful shove he could without falling on his ass, figuring it would work on her like it did the others. To his surprise, it seemed to have no affect on her, and he felt a vicious jab at his shields in return. He gasped and stumbled back, tripping and hitting the ground, squelching into his own mud puddle.

Jack jumped to his feet and grabbed the weevil. Spinning her around, he hit her with the weevil spray. She roared in anger, and Ianto cried out in pain, falling back as he felt the weevil's mind crash against his own. The weevil fell, and Jack fired a stun gun into her shoulder knocking her out.

Jack clamped on the cuffs and pushed her towards Tosh, before running over and sliding to his knees next to his lover, splattering them both with more mud. "Ianto? Are you okay?"

"Uh yes. I think so." Ianto shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs out. He put his hand up to his head, and yanked it back in disgust as he felt the mud plastering his hair down. "Uh- I just think my shields must have fallen or something. She- she hit them pretty hard.", he let Jack pull him to his feet.

Jack gave him a brief kiss then pulled back and tapped his comm. "Gwen? We got the weevil. Coming back now. Be warned though, things got a bit...messy."

"Are you okay? Was one of you hurt? Where's Ianto?" Owen voice came over the comm sounding fully alert, and tense, firing off a rapid series of questions.

"No, nothing like that, it's just...mud. Lots of mud." Ianto chimed in.

"Don't fucking scare me like that! I'm supposed to be resting here!" Owen snapped, sounding more relieved, then angry.

"Sorry pookie." Jack shot Ianto an evil grin and an exaggerated wink.

"I hate you." Owen grumbled over the comm.

Gwen voice was filled with amusement. "We'll be waiting for you. Have the cell all ready and waiting for the new arrival. Last empty one on the block though. We're going to have to move down another level after this one."

Jack sighed. "Right. We'll be there in a few.."

While Jack talked to Owen and Gwen, Ianto had moved around him and taken the weevil from Tosh. When Jack finished the conversation, he motioned for the captain to take the other foot and they started dragging the weevil back to the SUV.

"I hope no one's looked out their windows." Tosh said, scooping up the dropped weevil spray. "This will be rather awkward to explain."

"...gang member on PCP?" Jack offered.

"...we're got to stop having tv marathon nights...it's warping your fragile mind." Ianto muttered shaking his head.

"But I like Buffy...it's got a cute cast. Spike alone..."

"Jack, unless you want to sleep on the couch, shush."

"Owen's right. You are bossy."

Ianto silenced him with a glare, as they stuffed the weevil into the back, and Ianto retrieved a set of drop cloths, throwing one to Jack.

"Yes. Yes." Ianto said, shuddering as he felt a glop of mud slide below his waistband. "Just don't get the seats dirty."

---

The three team members piled out of the SUV, Jack and Ianto covered head to toe in mud, while Tosh had escaped with only one small splatter on her shoe. Gwen and Owen were there waiting for them with a trolley. In the back the weevil was still unconscious, which Ianto was rather grateful for.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Owen asked, tossing Ianto a towel so he could at least get a head start on the muck. "You weren't mud wrestling without me again were you?"

"Yes, Owen. We snuck off in the middle of the night to mud wrestle in a residential neighborhood. We took Tosh to hold up the round cards for us." Ianto said, and then made a little sound of disgust as a trickle of mud ran out his ear.

He turned on Jack. "Okay you, strip off. We are not tracking this gunk though my clean hub." The Welshman ordered, starting to pull off his own filthy clothes.

Jack was already stark naked before he finished the sentence.

Ianto sighed. "Jack I meant the parts covered in mud. Not everything." He had off everything but his boxers, folding his clothes neatly on the concrete beside the SUV.

"Where's the fun in that?" Jack grinned playfully and ran a hand through his hair. He cheerfully smeared a handful of mud onto Owen's cheek. Owen took this as a invitation to get naked too, and Ianto had to scramble to reach him in time. Cinching his belt back tightly, the younger man gave him a disapproving look, answered by a cheeky leer.

"Those are clean enough to last you until we get to the showers." He said.

Gwen and Tosh giggled while helping Jack pull the weevil from the back of the SUV. They dumped her gently on the trolly.

"We'll get her down to the cells while you boys clean up." Gwen said, very carefully looking Jack in the eye.

"Did I ever tell you guys about the time I was on a reality show?" Jack asked, slightly muffled by his shirt as Ianto used it to scrub at Jack's mud covered hair.

"Naked in front of billions. The world was a more beautiful place that day." Jack reminisced.

"Yes Jack the entire universe has seen your arse. Get in the shower." Ianto dropped the shirt and shooed his lovers forward, following them closely, the woman trailing behind to enjoy the view.

_A/N: Wanna see the shower scene? Well first, you must be of consent in your country * gives eye * Second, go to h t t p : / / w w w . dru-evilista . livejounal . com and click chapter 9. Good luck!_


	9. Chapter 10

Owen wandered back into Jack's office in the early hours of the morning, clutching a thermos of instant coffee like a vile, if necessary lifeline.

He winced when he saw Ianto sitting on the floor, already dressed, feet hanging into the hole of their little room. Jack's lion was pressed against his side, tentacles wrapped around the Welshman's waist. They were both giving him decidedly displeased looks.

"Where did you go?" Ianto asked, though Owen had a good idea that Ianto already knew. Owen hid the thermos behind his back.

"Went to feed the weevils and check up on them. I know, I know, I'm supposed to be resting. But life can't come to a halt just because my head hurts. Weevil's still need to be fed, scans still need to be run."

Ianto continued to look at him. "And you're suddenly waking up _before me_, just out of your devotion to your work ethic?" He stroked the lion's head, and Owen was reminded of a villain, petting his cat. The look Ianto was giving him, and the suit wasn't helping.

Owen shrugged and dropped down next to him, feet dangling, head resting on Ianto's shoulder. One of the lions tentacles reached behind Ianto to pet at him, and Ianto wound an arm around his waist.

"Not like I haven't gotten up early before. I did make it though medical school and residency you know." Owen sighed and leaned into Ianto more. "They poke you."

"In residency?" Ianto asked, brows furrowing.

"The weevils. The weevils poke _you_." Owen shook his head. It was obviously still a little too early for the young Welshman

"Oh" Ianto murmured.

"Shoving them back hurts. I don't want you to have to do that." Owen lifted a hand to rub his own temple.

Ianto frowned down at him. "My headaches are mild and last a few minutes. _You _are getting migraines. The pain is coming back isn't it?"

Owen nodded, closing his eyes. "Yeah. Started a little while ago. Not revved all the way up, but I can feel it coming. I have no fucking clue what's bringing this on." He sighed, but felt waves of comfort being gently pushed towards him, dulling the sharp ache in his skull. Ianto made a small noise, encouraging him to continue.

"Okay, yeah, I'm under stress, but I've been under stress for years! Medical school, residency, working at A&E, fuck, working here! I've never had migraines before. I thrive under pressure."

Ianto's eyes drifted towards where he knew the weevils were. "And you say your migraines started around last week?"

"Yeah."

"Around when Marcia came?"

"Yes." Owen said slowly, wondering where the younger man was going with his line of thought.

"What's it feel like?"

"I- I don't know. It hurts. Like something jabbing into my brain. Not quite like when my vision's bothering me, that feels like knives stabbing though my eyeballs into my brain. This is more...the back of my brain? Smells, lights, sounds, tastes, everything suddenly revs up and I just wants to curl up and die. Everything keeps building and getting worse, though is all starts with the dull stabbing."

"It's the weevils." Ianto said. Sounding sure. "They're affecting you."

"But that makes no sense." Owen shook his head. "I don't have any psychic powers."

"No, but you've always been...connected to weevils somehow. You spend a lot of time when them, and you've been meditating for a while now. Maybe something's rubbed off, but that's what's causing your migraines. Same as they poke my shields." Ianto's jaw set and he glared towards the cells. The lion growled loudly, seemingly as angry as Ianto.

Owen reached over and stroked the lion, then Ianto. "My heroes. Protective. It's cute, really but pointless. What are you gonna do? Growl at them? I don't think glares affect weevils, and if what you're saying is true, and they can do this to me, I don't want to see what they can do to you."

Ianto shook his head, but Owen overrode him.

"I really, really don't want you in the room with that much psychic powers bouncing around. The new one is even worst the the rest."

Ianto kissed the top of his head. "Coc O- Owen go lay down with Jack."

"You can stop stopping doing that you know. I didn't mean it. I was in pain and...cranky. I'm sorry I said that stuff." Owen said catching his hand.

Ianto gave him a small smile. "It's alright. Just habit...it started when I wasn't all that...fond of you yet. I shouldn't have kept using it. I'm sorry love."

"I don't know." Owen gave Ianto a smirk. "I think I kinda deserve it sometimes."

Ianto smiled back "I can always come up with a new pet name. Pookie? Darling? Snookums? Babycakes? I'm sure I'll think of something."

Owen glared, looking vaguely queasy as Ianto ran though the names. "I hate you.."

"No you don't. You love me." Ianto gave him a cheeky grin, then gestured towards the room with his head. "Go on. You know Jack hates to sleep alone."

"How is he still asleep? Did you slip a sleeping pill into his coffee?"

"I think we wore him out last night. He is old you know." Ianto chuckled.

"I heard that. Aren't there laws against elder abuse?" Jack's voice, more asleep than awake, called up. Owen reached over to poke the lion that didn't seem to be fading. Jack must have not been nearly awake enough.

"There should be laws against eavesdropping. We wouldn't have this problem if we had a actual flat, with actual rooms." Owen grumbled.

Ianto sighed. "That would be nice." he said wistfully.

Jack's voice still sounded asleep, and petulant. "Like my room. Is cosy. And convenient."

"Shush and go back to sleep. Owen go play teddy bear already. You know he doesn't sleep enough." Ianto expertly played them.

Owen glared and started climbing down the ladder. "You'd better not go down into the cells."

"Who me? Oh no. I'm going to go play with Myfanwy. She hasn't had enough cuddle time recently. She'll feel neglected."

"You are such a rotten lier." Owen grumbled while he curled up into Jack's side, Jack instantly wrapping around him. "Take OC with you. We might as well see how they act around you now."

Owen sighed as Ianto stood up, lion stretching and joining the Welshman. Stubborn bastard never listened.


	10. Chapter 11

WARNING! The previous 10 chapters have been pretty much fluff...from this point out for the next 50 chapters or so, things will be getting dark. So make sure you're prepared, wait till your in the right mood, or whatever you need to do, we don't want to scar anyone mentally too much. We can't afford to pay all your therapy bills. Now. To the chapter!

Ianto watched fondly for a minute as his two lovers curled around each other, projecting love, and sleep at them. Maybe it was a bit sneaky to use his powers to make Jack and Owen sleep more, but hell, what good were powers if he couldn't use them to make his lovers take better care of them selves?

He had lost count of the number of times Owen had watched him across the hub after an accident in the field, or the number of times he had caught Jack listening to his heartbeat when he really should be concentrating on his paper work.

Ianto pushed himself off the floor, feeling his anger flare up again. It was one thing for the weevils to harass him. But now they were hurting Owen. That would not be allowed to continue.

The lion stood next to him, tail whipping angrily, all but one purple tentacle tucked tightly against it's back. He growled quietly. Clearly he was a unhappy with Owen's condition as Ianto was. The lion reached out with a tentacle, wrapping it lightly around Ianto's wrist.

Ianto gave the lion a rueful grin, ruffling it's fur. "Come on then." He looked up over his shoulder to the corner of Jack's office where the small orbit camera hovered. It beeped inquisitively at him. "You too. Doctor's orders." OC let out a small squeak and dived towards the Welshman, following behind as Ianto stalked off towards the cells, determined to put the weevil's in their place.

Ianto entered into the row of cells, wincing at the psychic lash that hit him the moment the weevils saw him. He grit his teeth, pushed his shields up harder and kept going. There were eleven weevils now, nine that seemed to have some sort of psychic powers, if you included the newest. Brad and Janet, their long term guests were behaving, but their health had deteriorated as more and more new weevils were brought in. Brad's breakfast sill sat on the floor, mostly untouched.

"You all are being very bad! Stop it this instant! I've dealt with a lot of weevils over the years, and none of them have ever been such wankers!" Some of the weevils backed off at his glare, other hissed and slammed against the glass and his shields. They all felt just a little different. Some harsher. Like the difference between splinters and rope burn. Ianto pushed back as the lion roared and most of them jumped away from the glass.

Ianto reached the end of the hall and stared in at the newest weevil, she was sprawled on the floor, glaring at him idly. "Why must you all be like this...you don't see Janet acting this way do you?"

The weevil snarled and Ianto felt her clumsily shove against his mind, numbed and slow by the sedatives Owen had put in her breakfast. There was no other safe way to deal with them, but they took the pills easily enough, hidden in mounds of bargain bin hamburger.

Ianto sighed and pulled a nearby chair in front of her cell, spinning it around and sitting down, resting his arms on the high back. The lion hissed, but lay at his feet, keeping it's body between ianto and the plexiglass wall.

He watched her glare bleary eyed at him. He felt her clumsily shoves at his shields again, barely a poke compared to what the weevils had been throwing at him for the last week. Hell even Owen could shove harder. Had his shields really been that weak in the field?

He still couldn't work out why these weevils were so much different from the familiar weevils he'd taken care of for years. He felt another, harder shove, sparking in his mind like small flames, as the weevil shifted, coming out from her sedation. He shored up his shields again.

"What so different about you, hey?" He asked quietly. She didn't have a name yet, though Owen had come up with several rude descriptives. "Different breed? Evolution? Got into some steroids? Bitten by a radioactive spider? What?" He felt rather silly sitting there talking to a weevil, like he was going to get answers, but what else could he do? None of the tests Owen had been running for the last week had turned up anything and if this kept up at this pace, they were going to run out of space.

The weevil rolled over onto her knees, snarling, and he felt another rough shove. The pokes were getting harder as she got more alert and awake. It was different than the other weevils.

It wasn't an attack exactly. Each little shove was slightly different, as if she were testing a fence, going around and around looking for weaknesses. Where the others had struck out blindly, there actually, almost, seemed to be deliberation on her part. The hair on the back of Ianto's neck prickled as he shoved away the advances, pushing against her own primitive mind.

She pushed her self to her feet and stumbled to the glass and suddenly attacked. Ianto felt a violent stab at his shields, and he tumbled backwards out of the chair in shock. His shield was cracking around him like thin ice.

He hissed though his teeth and narrowed his eyes gathering his strength and shoved hard.

She shook her head sharply, then shoved at him, and he gasped in pain, stumbling back, fire crackled and snapped through his entire body. Ianto wasn't sure he could breathe.

The lion roared again smacking the glass with his tentacles. In the cells the weevils began to snarl and hiss. He could feel them again, pushing at the cracks in his shield.

Ianto straightened and tried again, arms shaking as he held himself up. He refused to let a weevil not only try to push him around, but also hurt his lover. He lashed out and as one the weevils stumbled. But as one they leapt forward again

Suddenly the world exploded around Ianto, and he screamed.


	11. Chapter 12

Owen stayed curled into Jack as Ianto turned and left the office. "So how long do you think we should wait before we go yell at him?"

"Dunno. Couple minutes or so." Jack sounded more awake than he had a moment ago. Big faker. The older man lifted his arm and Owen wriggled into the free space.

"He is such a bloody pain in the arse." Owen sighed into Jack's chest.

"Yup. That's our man. Cute, smart, sexy, and a gigantic pain in the ass."

Owen felt himself dangerously close to just going back to sleep. The warm bed was inviting, and Jack would be more than happy to offer up his services as a pillow. So very tempting. With another sigh he pulled himself up, grabbing Jack's pants and throwing them at him. He watched appreciatively as Jack slid into them without sitting up.

A roar, made quiet by the distance and thick walls, reached the small bedroom.

"Someone's not happy." Owen said. The swamp lion often went with Ianto to the cells, and always seemed to make more noise than the weevils themselves.

"I don't know." Jack grinned. "He seems to be enjoying himself."

Owen snorted and tossed him the shirt next. "Ianto's not allowed to harass me about the migraine anymore. I swear. Not if he's going to continuously go down there and have mental bitch fights with a room full of weevils. Like _that's_ healthy?!"

Jack chuckled. "You're both idiots."

"Oh like you're one to talk! You die like once a week doing something stupid!"

"I'm immortal, and I'm not picking fights with psychically enhanced weevils. Doesn't count."

"Does to."

"Does-" Owen was interrupted by the small camera zooming into the room, beeping hysterically. It was going so fast that it slammed into a wall, ricocheting off and laying stunned on the mattress for a moment before shooting up again to bob in front of the two men.

"OC? What's wrong boy?" Jack paused and shook his head. "It's like I'm living in Lassie...OC what's wrong?"

The camera kept beeping and squeaking frantically until Owen reached up and grabbed it, holding it still. "Speak English! ...or beep clearer or something."

The camera seemed to calm down, and tugged back out of Owen's hands. It turned and started to project previously recorded film. In the air in front of them a hologram wavered of Ianto sitting in front of a weevil's cell. As they watched Ianto fell out of his chair, shock written on his face. He struggled to sit up before collapsing, curling in on himself, mouth open in a silent scream.

"FUCK!" Owen screamed. "I told him not to go down there!" He leapt up, stumbling over the mattress and up the ladder, running to the cells

Jack flew past him, racing to get to Ianto, OC close behind.

They skidded into the cell room to find Ianto crumpled on the floor, small pained noises escaped his open mouth. Jack's lion was crouched over him snarling at the weevils, while his tentacles petted Ianto franticly trying to comfort him. The lion turned when they entered and whimpered, seeming to beg the two men to fix it.

Owen spun on the weevils hissing, a totally unhinged look in his eyes. All the weevils except the newest faltered, taking a step back.

Jack grabbed Ianto, hauling him up and dragging him up the stairs. He raced out of the cells, trying to get Ianto as far away from the weevils as possible.

Owen snarled again, then hissed in pain as the weevils recovered, and lashed out at him. He stumbled out after Jack and Ianto, falling to his knees next to the couch where Jack had lain Ianto.

The younger man was still gasping and whimpering, a scream stuck somewhere in his throat. Owen held his shoulders down as Ianto arched up, nearly falling off the couch.

Ianto's eyes were open, but unfocused. They could hear the weevils roaring and snarling down in the cell. The noises grew louder and Ianto's gasps grew more ragged, building on each other until the Welshman stiffened, eyes rolling back. The roaring reached a crescendo.

Ianto screamed, and then went limp.

It was suddenly, terrifyingly, quiet.


	12. Chapter 13

"Ianto? Ianto luv, talk to me!" Owen started examining Ianto, checking for any physical injuries, while feeling under the couch for the medkit he kept there. He pulled it out, rifling through with one hand.

Jack moved up, running his hand through Ianto's hair, making soothing noises as Ianto started to stir.

"They're dead. I killed them." Ianto mumbled, eyes not quite meeting Jack's,

"No one's dead Ianto. See? We're all here."

"Weevils. Weevils are." Ianto murmured, eyes sliding closed.

Owen blinked, looking from Ianto, towards the cells. "...good. Jack go get me some blankets. He's in shock, we need to keep him warm."

Jack nodded sharply and ran to do as ordered.

"Oh god, Coc oen, they're dead." The younger man said quietly, making it sound almost like a question.

"Shh luv, it's not your fault. Jack, wait! We need to move him to the autopsy bay. I need to start and IV and start pushing fluids and pressors."

"What? How bad is this?" Jack stared at Owen wide eyed.

"Neurogenic shock. Probably. Blood pressure, heart rate, temperature are all dropping. The way he described it before, the pain went through his nervous system. Need to get his vitals up now." Owen said, sliding an arm under Ianto's back and lifted him. Ianto remained limp in his arms, head lolling against the doctor's shoulders.

Jack quickly moved forward and picked Ianto up carefully, carrying him down the steps into the autopsy bay, laying him down on the table. Ianto remained still, eyes closed.

Owen ran around quickly, grabbing things he would need.

"What can I do?" Jack asked staring, wide eyed, eyes flicking from following Owen to Ianto's chest, as if he could stare through it and see the slowing heartbeat he was focusing on.

"Blankets. Get blankets." Owen said, giving him a light push back up the steps. He figured that would keep him out of the way for a minute or two, and make him feel useful.

As Jack raced off to get the blankets, Owen unknotted Ianto's tie, and unfastened his belt. He pulled off the younger man's shoes.

"Stupid bastard. You'll be all right, Yan." Owen spoke to his unresponsive lover as he hooked up the monitors, inserted a IV, and injected the norepinephrine and atropine.

"You'll be fine, and next time you'll listen to me huh?"

He watched the monitors for several minutes, letting out a breath when Ianto's vital signs began to stabilize.

Ianto stirred again and blinked up at him. "What's goin..?" his question trailed off.

"It's okay. You're okay. I'm taking care of you." Owen soothed while he watched the monitors and grabbed more doses of the drugs, setting them nearby in case they might be needed.

"The weevils..." Ianto whispered.

"It's okay. It's no big deal. We didn't like them anyway. Did us all a favor. My head feels better already!" Owen tried to sound cheerful, while he stroked Ianto's hair.

"I- I oh god I killed them! With my mind! How could I –"

"Ianto shhh. Don't think about it. We'll worry about that later when you're better. Just relax, breathe."

Jack came running back into the autopsy bay with a arm full of blankets. "Ianto? Sweetheart, hey." he said gently while he started covering Ianto in blankets.

Owen made a hmming noise. "Table's cold..Jack pick him up, carefully, and I'll throw a couple blankets down."

Jack looked like a nervous wreck, he never was really any good in a medical emergency, Owen decided. He slid his arms under Ianto and carefully picked him up, trying to make sure he didn't knock anything out, while Owen threw down a couple of blankets. Jack then carefully laid him back down, while Owen checked all the leads and the IV.

"Weevils?" Ianto asked again, eyes trailing towards the steps.

OC suddenly bobbed into sight, as if on cue and projected a hologram of the cell rooms. All the weevils, aside from Janet and Brad, were huddled against the wall, dead or dying on the floor, bleeding from every orifice. The ones who could still move were clawing at their faces in pain.

"Fuck! OC, Out!" Owen barked, throwing a medical tray at the camera as Ianto gasped in horror. The machines monitoring him wailed. OC flew out of the room chittering and beeping.

"Ianto, Ianto it's okay. It's fine. Luv calm down!" Owen winced at the displays. "His vitals are all over the place! I don't know wither to give him more atropine, or knock him out.'

"Oh god. I'm a monster!" Ianto sobbed, struggling to sit up.

"...sedatives it is." Owen muttered grabbing a syringe, and emptying into the IV. Within a few seconds Ianto was unconscious.

"Fuck, fuck, FUCK! I'm going to kill that camera!" Owen snarled, slamming his fist against one of the counters.

Jack covered his face, and fell down on the steps. "Goddess. Why does this shit keep happening to us?"


	13. Chapter 14

Owen sat, back pressed against Jack's chest, Jack's arms wrapped around him. Both of them had been sitting on the landing of the autopsy bay for an hour or more, watching Ianto. The younger man was stable now, but still deep in a drugged sleep.

"What are we going to do?" Jack asked. "What's going to happen when he wakes up? Is he going to freak out again? Are we going to have to keep drugging him?"

Owen shook his head. Sometimes he hated being the doctor. Everyone thought he had all the answers. "Even if we wanted to keep him drugged, that wouldn't be healthy. For a short time, yeah we can keep him sedated, but not forever."

"Maybe he'll be okay." Jack said uncertainly.

Owen snorted. "Jack, he killed nine weevils. With his mind. _With. His. Mind_. You're not 'okay' after something like that. Hell, I'd be rocking in a corner wetting myself if it were me."

Jack hugged Owen tighter. "Why can't anything in our lives ever be easy? I mean I don't expect us to be...normal. We're Torchwood after all, but why does one of us always wind up like _this_?" He gestured to Ianto. "And why is it always Ianto?!"

Owen gave a tired laugh. "Maybe he was Jack the Ripper in a past life? Karma's catching up with him? I don't have a fucking clue. ...I just hope he doesn't explode our heads when he wakes up."

"Owen!"

"What?! You were thinking the same thing, you know it!" Owen had been thinking it. He knew Ianto would never hurt them, but if it turned out to be something he couldn't control. So yeah, he had been thinking about it, and he knew Jack had been to

"...maybe." Jack's head thumped back against the wall. "Fuck. We're going to have to do something about those weevils."

"I still have to autopsy the fuckers. ...later. I'm kinda busy right now."

"Mm" Jack agreed. "I know, but Janet and Brad are still alive as far as we know, and they're down there. We're going to have to move them."

Owen glared up at the ceiling. "If you're going to make our lives hell, could you at least not give us so much work at the same time?" he asked. He wasn't quite sure who he was talking to exactly. But he was pretty sure he really, really hated them at the moment.

000

Gwen hummed quietly under her breath as she entered the tourist office. Ianto wasn't there, but now days that wasn't that odd. More often than not she could find him in the little kitchenette. He spent a lot more time downstairs with Jack and Owen, and breakfasts had started to be pushed back, giving the rest of the team to arrive to join in on the morning meal. It was starting to get scarily domestic.

She pushed the button to open the hidden door and headed down, still humming the cheerful beat of the song she'd been listening to on the drive to work. Maybe she could coerce Ianto into piping the song through on the hub speakers later. She was sure she had it on her ipod.

As soon as she entered the hub she felt a chill. Something was wrong. "Jack? Owen? Ianto?" She called slowly, walking up the steps towards Jack's office, dropping her things at her desk on her way.

"Down here." Jack voice was quiet and his tone of voice frightened her. She turned and headed back towards the autopsy bay. She subconsciously looked around for something that could be used as a weapon.

Gwen walked around the corner onto the ledge and froze. Ianto lay on the autopsy table, still and motionless. If it wasn't for the steady beeping of the heart monitor she'd have thought him dead. Jack and Owen were curled around each other, sitting on the steps watching Ianto.

"What happened? Is Ianto alright? Oh god, don't tell me a weevil-"

"No." Owen shook his head sharply. "Psychic thing. Weevils attacked him psychically. He...returned the favor."

Jack looked up, not loosening his hold on Owen. "When Tosh gets in, we're going to need the two of you to move Janet and Brad down a level, and turn the temperature controls down. We're not going to be moving from here for a while, and we don't want the bodies to start rotting."

"Need to autopsy them first." Owen muttered leaning further into Jack.

"...body?" Gwen questioned hesitantly, feeling her head spin. Was it really possible that Ianto could have done that?

"Bodies. Plural. Nine of them.. Ianto killed them. Bastards attacked him, and he lashed out in self defense."

"How?"

"Uh. from what we saw from OC's footage it wasn't pretty. I'll know the exact cause of death when I can get to the autopsies. For now, lets say.. blood loss." Owen seemed to pick a cause at random.

Gwen paled.

"Oh" Jack warned. "Don't go in the bathroom. OC's locked in there. He's frantic but all he's doing is an endless loop from the cells." Jack had to chase the little orbit camera all over the hub before he could corner it, and get it locked away.

Owen rubbed his face and got up to check Ianto again.

"Do you want me to make some coffee maybe?" Gwen asked gently. It wasn't much, but both men looked haggard. If anyone needed a strong cup of coffee it was those two.

Jack shot her a tired, grateful smile. "Yeah thanks, that would be great, Gwen."

"You're a lifesaver." Owen murmured, eyes fixed on Ianto. "2 creams, 4 sugars. Shot of whiskey. Ta."

Gwen hesitated. "He'll be okay, though?"

She waited for a moment, but neither Jack or Owen said anything. She nodded her head sadly and jogged off to get the coffee brewing for them.


	14. Chapter 15

Jack watched Owen as the doctor moved around the autopsy bay restlessly, pacing while hovering near Ianto, checking monitors, changing IVs, anything he could think of to stay close to the unconscious Welshman. Owen never could handle a crisis sitting down.

Beside him the pink swamp lion gave Jack a questioning 'mrowr', head butting his shoulder lightly. Jack gave the animal a small smile and stroked the purple tentacles. He didn't really know why the lion was still there, despite the fact that Jack was fully awake, but it had been a constant companion and he was grateful for the comfort.

His eyes drifted over to Ianto again, hearing focused on the slow steady thumping of his heart. The young man had been sedated for hours now. Owen thought he would be waking up soon, but no one could predict how he would react. The whole team was on pins and needles, dreading the inevitable. Jack wished Ianto would just wake up.

As if on cue Ianto's heart rate sped up.

"Owen." Jack warned, pulling himself up and wincing as his body objected. He couldn't remember the last time he had stayed so still for so long. He moved over to Ianto's side as the younger man started to wake.

"Mmpf. Jack? Owen? What?" Ianto murmured, brow wrinkled in confusion. His eyes were glazed slightly as the last of the sedative filtered out of his system.

"Dear lord you two look awful." Ianto muttered. "We've really got to start going to bed earlier. Why don't I go get you both a tea." Ianto tried to sit up and frowned at the two sets of hands pushing him back down. Jack watched as Ianto's eyes slid down, taking in the IV stuck in the back of his hand, and the blanket covered metal under his fingers. "Why are we in here? ...did something happen?"

Jack tried to smile reassuringly at Ianto, before turning frantic eyes towards Owen. He saw the same fear in Owen's face, quickly pushed behind a front of concerned professionalism. Owen shook his head slightly, warning Jack to be careful.

"Ianto, luv?" The doctor pulled out a pen-torch and started flashing it in Ianto's eyes checking his pupils. "does your head hurt? Blurred vision? Dizzy, nausea, vision changes, anything?" Owen questioned rapidly.

Ianto looked concerned, and vaguely annoyed. He swatted Owen's hand out of his face. "No, no I'm fine. What's going on? What happened?" He pushed him upright, frowning at both of his lovers. "an accident? The rift?"

"Uh... we're investigating it right now. Don't worry. Just lay back down, and let me run some scans. We'll tell you more, when we know what's going on." Owen ordered pushing him back down.

"Owen!"

"Shush. Doctor's orders." Owen muttered grabbing some scanning equipment.

"I really don't think-" Ianto argued, giving them both a slightly fuzzy glares, and Jack momentarily offended. He hadn't even said anything. "Owen, seriously, tell me- am I dying or something?"

"NO! Nothing like that. Now shut up and lay still...quietly. You'll be fine." Owen growled, sounding as shook up as Jack felt.

Needing something to do, Jack smoothed down the blankets covering Ianto, fussing with the wrinkles. A soft laugh from Ianto startled him, and the younger man reached out, taking Jack's hand in his, careful of the IV line.

"Don't look so worried Jack. Owen said we'll be fine."

---

Ianto was past the groggy floating feeling that came with sedatives, and was fully into the confused and annoyed stage. Owen and Jack were still refusing to tell him anything. Owen had decided that it would be best for him to remember on his own. He he'd tried to get something off Owen's mind, reading between the lines of concern and worry. Owen had yelped and dived half way across the room, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Ianto didn't know what had happened, but clearly something had, and it was bad. His head hurt, the world tipping slightly when he tried to move his head, and little electric shocks fired randomly through his body, keeping him on the very edge of pain, not letting him tip over either way.

Ianto had sent Jack off awhile ago, disguised as a plea for a peppermint hot chocolate, that Owen had grudgingly okayed. He loved Jack, but the man was lousy with sick people. The hovering, and panicked faces were just making Ianto feel more tense, so he'd sent his lover off, while Owen continued to poke, prod, and scan him.

Tosh popped her head around the corner. "Is it okay to come in?"

"Yeah, come on." Owen muttered, not looking up from the test results he was studying, reading over the top of the sunglasses that had been pushed down to the tip of his nose.

Tosh came the rest of the way in, and walked down the stairs to stand over Ianto, OC bobbing along timidly behind her. "Hey, Ianto. How are you feeling?"

"Annoyed." Ianto said cutting his eyes to the back of Owen's head. "He hasn't run out of tests yet. Have a bit of a headache...kind of weird actually. Sort of...distant. Like...I don't know a phantom pain in a leg that's been cut off?" Ianto blinked at the stream of thought. Maybe the drugs hadn't quite worn off. "But that doesn't make sense, does it? Mostly I'm bored. Owen refuses to let me up, or even tell me what's wrong."

"I told you, I'd tell you something when we have more information."

Tosh smiled brightly, showing far too many teeth, looking strained. Even without trying, he could feel the tension rolling off her in waves. "Well I bought someone to help cheer you up. OC's going to keep you entertained. He's downloaded a bunch of movies to play back for you."

Owen growled and Ianto shot him a concerned look. He was glaring at the bobbing camera, gripping the edge of his desk. That was odd. Owen and OC had been on quite friendly terms since he'd gotten used to the alien orbital camera, even tried to convince it to override Ianto's "no porn" directive.

Tosh kept smiling. "Yes, OC's all ready to keep you happy and entertained for hours."

OC beeped and chirped at Ianto anxiously, and he smiled, fondly reaching up to stroke the robot. Despite him self he'd become rather attached to the little guy. He frowned slightly at the newest dent. Could he have forgotten that too?

Owen muttered darkly and spun his back on them, radiating fear, worry, and anger. Out of habit and instinct, Ianto reached out and tried to calm and comfort Owen. Owen jumped at his mental touch.

Ianto was starting to get scared.

"Alright, so OC, why don't you play something for Ianto, alright?" Tosh's cheerfulness was forced.

The camera chirped cheerfully and turned, projecting a holographic version of The Maltese Falcon, fast forwarding to where it had been paused earlier. the soundtrack echoed around them oddly.

Ianto tried to focus on the movie, but his thoughts drifted. He couldn't get his mind off what was going on. Clearly something had happened to him, but what? And why was Owen so jumpy and tense every time Ianto tried to reach out to him?

By the time the second movie ended, The African Queen this time, OC must have been on a Bogart kick, he was feeling slightly drowsy. Pain still flickered against his nerve endings, waking him up as soon as he closed his eyes. Owen had come to stand over him, and started unhooking the monitors. "Alright, up you go."

"Really? You're setting me free?" Ianto asked, thrilled, as he sat up. He shook his head

"Well not free. You're on bed rest. ...a real bed. I'm taking you back to my flat, to get some rest for a while." Owen said as he pulled the IV out of the back of Ianto's hand, pressing a plaster over the tiny hole.

"_What_?!" Jack bellowed, appearing at the door way of the autopsy room. He had been occupied, thankfully, with an alien sighting over Splott, popping in occasionally to check in on them, and comment on whatever scene was playing.

"When did you decide this?!" Jack asked, crossing his arms.

"He's not staying in the POW camp after- he's just not. We're all going to be staying in my flat for the foreseeable future. If you don't like it, feel free to stay in your cold, lonely hole in the ground. Alone." Owen put his foot down.

Jack opened his mouth to argue and Owen cut him off. "Though be aware I'm taking all your personal possessions hostage. If you want to see them, and us again, you'd better come along quietly." the doctor said lightly, while he moved the medical equipment back out of the way, and helped Ianto down off the table.

Jack pouted playfully. "Why do you hate my room so much? It's nice. It's cozy, and it's convenient."

"My flat is about five a minute walk away. It's not that sodding far! If the world is going to end in a two minutes it takes to run here, then there's already nothing we can do to stop it, and at least we'll spend our last few minutes in a comfortable bed. Now start packing!"

Ianto smiled at the look of shock on Jack's face. He wanted to stop and grill Owen on what was going on, what was the matter, what the bloody hell had happened to him, but frankly he wanted to be out of the hub, more then he wanted to know at the moment.

He didn't mind Jack's bedroom. Not really. But he didn't want to stay here. Not now. So he kept quiet, and headed towards the locker room, trailed by Jack and Owen.


	15. Chapter 16

Jack pulled Owen back as Ianto headed for the locker room Ianto shot them both a questioning look, but left them alone, heading away by himself.

Jack turned on his lover. "Owen, this isn't even about my room, are you sure he should be....out? I mean what if..."

Owen shook his head. "I know, I know, but he can't stay here. That means him climbing up and down ladders, stale air, and he can't even so much as go to the bathroom without passing the autopsy bay. How am I going to do the autopsies, if he's here?"

Jack hated to admit it, but those really were valid points. He just felt so much safer though when his younger lover was safe behind Torchwood's security system. Both of his young lovers. There were somedays when he wished keeping them locked in the cells was a viable option.

"There's no sign of any brain, or nuro damage,-" Owen continued, unaware of Jack's train of thought. "-so the amnesia has to be a psychological thing to protect him self. And there's more chance of his memory coming back suddenly, traumatically if he's around, where it happened. Any sound or smell could trigger it. The only thing we can do is get him away from here, and keep him calm and happy. Maybe then his memories will come back more….gently, if he's somewhere else."

"Why not his flat then?" Jack asked, knowing that Owen had made up his mind. Ianto might be more comfortable around his own things. And it had been so long since Ianto had stayed at his house proper, not just nipped over for a change of clothes or a book, that it might be a nice vacation of sorts.

"A: It's on the other side of town. B: he still hasn't bought a bed."

Jack winced. He had known Ianto didn't have a bed. It was one of the reasons they always stayed together in the hub. Ianto had said his couch was perfectly comfortable. The truth was that, as he learned one night in the middle of a hefty drinking session, before Lisa's death, Ianto had been waiting until she could pick out a bed for both of them. After that, well it had seemed like Ianto just never thought about it. He had always spent half his time on a little cot down in the archives anyway, obsessed with some new bit of filing. The other half, of course, was spent in Jack's bed. Jack had assumed though that Ianto would have gotten one by now.

Jack sighed and nodded. "You're right, and we don't want him seeing the weevils. We'll stay at your place. But I'm keeping my room here!"

Owen rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Keep your little POW camp. Play war games on your own time. I have to go pack. You should do the same."

Jack muttered, and they continued on towards the locker room.

"Think of it this way," Owen said with a smirk. "At least you'll get unscrambled porn. High Definition even."

"I could live with that." Jack decided with a grin, sliding an arm around Ianto's waist as they caught up with him. Ianto raised an eyebrow, and Jack nipped at his earlobe.

---

The three men trooped into the long-empty flat. Owen grinned broadly, dropping his bag on the floor, kicking it to the side out of the way. Jack piled both his and Ianto's duffle bags on top of Owen's, looking around the spacious, if somewhat messy flat.

"Ah! Home sweet home! How I've missed you!" Owen patted a near wall.

Jack had picked the place out and Ianto had been there before, of course. But Ianto had always been slightly tipsier. Owen grinned as Ianto looked around again, as if for the first time, wrinkling his nose at the expansive windows.

"How can you stand it...do you dress in the bathroom?" the younger man asked.

Owen stared blankly at him. "Why would it bother me?" he shrugged and looked out the windows, snickering as he saw the view with his enhanced vision. "Aww that's cute my neighbors are all excited I'm back!" He pointed to a far off balcony, where a man was hunched over his telescope. Owen waved cheerfully out the window. In the reflection of the glass Jack looked amused, and Ianto looked pained.

"How did I wind up dating two exhibitionists?" Ianto muttered.

"You're just lucky I guess. " Jack said brightly, while he wrapped his arms around Ianto, tipping him slightly so Ianto had to lean back against him.. "Wanna give the neighbors a welcome home show?"

Ianto elbowed Jack in the ribs and pulled free. "No. I- I'm going to go make some coffee." He frowned looking around the flat. "And maybe do some cleaning. I know we've all been away from home for weeks now, but when was the last time you cleaned before that?"

"Uh...I don't know? Doesn't matter, you're here to rest and relax. You know where the bed room is. Go. Make your self comfy." Owen ordered, pushing Ianto gently towards the bedroom.

Ianto gave in with a sigh, carefully side-stepping an overflowing hamper and a small landslide of DVDs.

Owen waited until Ianto was safely in the master bathroom before he turned and flopped down on his couch with a pleased sigh. "God that feels good. Oh baby. You don't know how much I'm missed you..." Owen crooned to the couch, rubbing his cheek against one cushion like a large cat, marking it's territory.

Jack watched him in amusement. "Owen? Are there fetishes I should know about? I mean, I'm happy to help... Just need to know about them first."

Owen grinned and wiggled his fingers, gesturing for Jack to come over. Jack sat down, sinking into the deep cushions and cuddled into Owen.

"Now see? Isn't this better then your cramped office and hole in the ground? Large, roomy, comfortable."

"Bright. You're going to have to keep your sunglasses glued to your nose during the day time." Jack told him smirking as he gestured to all the large windows.

"...fuck. Didn't think of that...well I guess Ianto's going to get his wish of me learning to control my sight better. Either I will, or I'll go blind or something. " Owen shrugged, too happy to be home finally, even under the circumstance. "Still better then the POW camp of yours." He teased.

Jack rolled his eyes and ran a hand over Owen's arm and across his shoulder. "We'll get you some blinds or something."

Owen pouted. "You'd deny my adoring public their porn?"

"I'm pretty sure if we want to ever have sex in your flat, we're going to be doing that anyway. Ianto's kind of lacking in the exhibitionist side."

Owen sighed. "Yeah I guess. Still, it was his idea to shag against the window that time...I should show you that video."

Owen laughed at the shocked expression on Jack's face, and at the affectionate scowl on Ianto's as he joined them on the couch, flopping down on the other side of Jack. "I was...unbelievably drunk that night. He should have known better than to listen to me." Ianto nudged at Jack until the captain lifted his arm, letting Ianto curl in against his side with a tired sigh.

"Ianto? Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Jack asked.

"The sheets are filthy. I don't want to know when they were last changed. I really, really don't want to know."

Owen sighed and pushed him self up off the couch. He was sure they were perfectly fine. "I'll change them. I think I had put a set in the wash last time I was here...they'd gotta be dry by now, right?"

Ianto gave him a small thankful smile, and Owen couldn't resist getting in a last word.

"It's about time anyway. Six month rotation, very hygienic."

Ianto shuddered, and Owen grinned.


	16. Chapter 17

Ianto rolled and eyes and shifted further into Jack's side, curling his legs up under him.

Jack smiled down and kissed the top of his head. "How're you doing?"

"Fine, I guess. The medication Owen gave me seems to be helping with the headache and pain...I'm a bit tired though." He admitted, yawning and resting his head against Jack's shoulder.

"Go to sleep." Jack commanded, then grinned playfully. "Owen and I have experience manhandling you when you're asleep. We'll tuck you in when he's done changing the sheets."

"Jack it's barely dark out! I feel like a child." Ianto sighed, hating the fact that he knew he sounded liked one. "This is like when this whole thing first started, all over again. Me all weak, and you two having to coddle me. I hate this." Ianto would not admit it, but his voice was getting petulant.

Jack turned Ianto's face towards him. "Ianto we love you. We don't mind taking care of you. You do the same thing for us everyday. Weren't we just having this conversation with Owen yesterday? When you love someone, you take care of them.."

Ianto chuckled slightly. Jack was always the first to throw his own words back at him "We do seem to keep going in circles don't we?" Ianto paused to scowl. "Owen should still be resting though. His migraines might come back."

Jack suppressed a wince. "I'll keep a close eye on him. You'll both be okay."

Owen came back in and stopped in front of them. He prodded Ianto until the younger man sat up straight, and then handed him a mug of water and two white pills.

"Dirty sheets off and in the wash, mattress flipped, and let me tell you that's a fucking pain in the arse, and clean sheets on. I even ran a damp paper towel over things to clear up the dust. You have no more arguments. Into bed!"

Ianto's lips twitched and he bit his lip to keep from laughing. He carefully swallowed the tablets and then arranged his features into a pout. "What if I want a bed time story and glass of milk?"

Owen smirked. "Well all right, I'm sure I can find something to read to you." He dropped down to his knees and started digging under the couch around their legs, knocking out magazines and DVDs. "You like porn right? Everyone loves porn! I think a few of these might even have plot..."

"...we're never having children." Ianto informed Jack seriously.

Owen froze. "Err we weren't planning to were we? ...should I be running pregnancy tests?" Owen eyeballed his two lovers with suspicion. Ianto felt a wave of panic build up in Owen's head, and he took pity on his lover.

"Being that I'm a human male, no."

"On birth control." Jack chimed in. "I've told you, I'm never doing that again." he answered standing up, pulling Ianto with him.

Owen stood up, dusting his hands and knees off, clutching the remote he had been looking for. Ianto dimly remembered that it controlled the lights, as well as the music system. Music would be nice.

"Come on, Luv." Owen nudged Ianto forward. "Lets get you tucked in. You need your rest."

"I'm not tired." Ianto said, barely swallowing a yawn. He hated being this weak. Especially when something was wrong.

Owen crossed his arms. "Fine. Jack."

Jack shifted his grip on Ianto, preparing to pick him up and throw him over his shoulder.

"Fine! Fine! Okay, I'm going." Ianto protested. He let his lovers lead him into the bed room to put him to bed like a toddler. At least neither of them seemed frightened of him. That was an improvement.


	17. Chapter 18

Owen muttered into the recorder as he worked, autopsying the third weevil of the day. At least now he knew what had killed them, mostly. His random guess before had been almost right. There was massive blood loss. At least ninety percent. It seemed like every blood vessel in their bodies had ruptured. Massive, amounts of brain damage on top of that. It was…bizarre. And bordering on the impossible.

Gwen's head poked into the autopsy bay, waggling Owen's mobile. "Owen, phone for you. Say's she's your neighbor? Mrs...Smith?"

Owen groaned and gestured with his gloves. "All slimy here, put her on speaker." Gwen did as ordered, setting the mobile delicately on the weevil's flayed chest before retreating back to stand on the landing with Tosh. "Hey? Mrs.-"

"Owen! Owen, dear is that you?" His neighbor's familiar, somewhat grandmotherly, voice sounded out of place in the autopsy bay.

"Yeah. Yeah it's me."

"Oh it's so lovely to hear you're voice, sweetheart! But the reason I called it, do you know there's burglars in your flat?!"

"Lovely to hear from you too." Owen answered absently, poking around in the Weevil's stomach cavity. "Wait? What? Burglars? No."

"Owen you've been gone for a month! And now there's two men walking around your flat, touching everything! Snooping And earlier they were in your _bed_. What sort of perverts break into a man's home and get in his bed?" Mrs. Smith was bordering on the frantic.

Owen sighed, pulling out the soothing voice that was usually reserved only for his Guide or fellow Sentinel. "Yes I know I haven't been home lately, but you know I told you a month or so ago, I've been traveling for my job a lot. Hardly been having a moment to sit down, you know how it is. But I'm back here in Cardiff now for a while."

"That doesn't explain the men, dear."

"Was one of them wearing a coat earlier, fairly swishy when he turns?"

"Yes!"

"And the other one's probably been cleaning a bit?"

"Yes!"

"The swishy one is Jack Harkness. The cleaner is Ianto Jones. Perfectly harmless. They're...friends of mine."

"Friends? Owen dear, you know you scared me half to death thinking you were being robbed! You should have called me and told me you were back in town!"

"Yeah. Yes Ma'am. Right, of course I should have called you. Horrible oversight on my part. Forgive me?" Owen rolled his eyes, and flipped two gloved fingers up at Tosh and Gwen as they stared at him wide eyed, hands clamped over their mouths to hold in the laughs.

"Oh of course Owen. You know I can't stay mad at you. You're such a darling young man. So much nicer then most young people today. You'll have introduce me to your friends! I'm sure I'll love them."

"Of course. Right. We'll have to have you one of these days. I'm sure-"

"What did you say those names were again? You know how things fly right out of my head these days! Let me write it down. Oh! And what kind of cookies should I bake them?"

Owen resisted the urge to bang his head off the wall. He was never going to live this down. "Ianto Jones and Jack Harkness. Uh..chocolate? And Maybe something with coffee? Ianto's got a bit of an addiction for the stuff..."

"Hm... I'm sure I can whip something up for the dears. I have your favorite recipe right here. Rum Raisin. I know you love that."

"Yeah. Sounds good. I'm sure they'll love to meet you. Right." Owen looked around and slapped a button on the heart monitor. It wasn't hooked up to anything, so it wailed. Loudly. "Oh! Darling, I'm sorry, but I'm being paged! Emergency! Got to run! Talk to you again soon, yeah? Ta!" Owen fumbled with the mobile, uncaring of the gore that got into the speakers as he turned it off.

He swore and collapsed over the counter. "Fuck! Never, I repeat, _never _tell a neighbor you're a doctor just to get into her granddaughters pants. You'll never be rid of her."

As soon the end button was hit Gwen and Tosh had burst out into laughter, sliding down the wall, to collapse into giggling heaps.

"Oh! Oh my god! " Gwen gasped. "What was that?! Who are you, and what have you done with our rude, nasty, sarcastic doctor?!"

Owen scowled up at them "My neighbor. When I first moved in, I was trying to chat up a bird who turned out to be her granddaughter. The doctor thing got out, and I've been trapped ever since." He wasn't about to mention the time he had helped her cat, Mr. Mittens, through a rough pregnancy. Sure it had earned him free cookies for life, but it had robbed him of his dignity.

"That doesn't explain how...nice, how polite you were!" Tosh squeaked out. Owen felt a twinge of worry at how red she was turning from laughter.

"She reminds me of my Gran ok?! I just can't be....me to her. Oh just shut up and get back to work!" Owen snapped, glaring and turning back to his weevil corpse.

When they didn't move her grabbed a organ that was vaguely liver like and drew his arm back threateningly. They were still gasping for breath, but managed to pull themselves up and headed back to their desks, still giggling. Owen lowered the organ, scowling.

Owen sighed and shook his head going back to his autopsy, wincing briefly as he realized the audio recorder had been on for the entire exchange. Ianto would love transcribing that one for the archives.

He slipped back into his serious doctor mode as he focused again on the body. From all signs it appeared the weevil...Cindy was it? He checked the post-it note Gwen had stuck to its forehead. Yep. Cindy. Cindy Had died of massive, numerous aneurysms. And..something. Violent, painful, and unbelievably messy. Like the other two he had already done. Just like. Owen shuddered and ripped his gloves off as he shoved the weevil into the drawer to send it down to the freezer for now. God. Ianto had done this. His Ianto. His gentle, kind Ianto, who served him cold coffee for a week whenever he thought Owen had killed a lab rat unnecessarily.

He glared up at the ceiling again. There had better _not _be a afterlife, or a god, or whatever the hell ever was supposed to exist. Because if there was he was going to have serious words with whoever was in change when he died for letting this happen. Lousy fuckers.


	18. Chapter 19

Jack sat on the couch, alternating between watching the night outside the large windows, and keeping an eye on Ianto as he flitted around the flat, cleaning and straightening . He'd long given up trying to get the man to rest. Ianto hated disorder, and he hated having nothing to do. A cleaning frenzy was just the natural outcome of keeping the two things together in one room for any amount of time.

Oh sure, Jack had tried making the younger man nap earlier, but Ianto had only stayed in the bed long enough to formulate a plan of attack on his messy surroundings.

All Jack could do was sit back and watch him, keep a close ear on his vitals, and corral him when he started looking like he was getting dizzy. He had no qualms about using some of the drugs Owen had brought home if it got to that. At least for now Ianto was content to sit on the floor in front of the entertainment system, going through Owen's extensive collection of ripped dvds, illegal music, and naturally, porn.

As if knowing Jack was focusing on him, Ianto paused, holding a finger between two dvd cases to keep his place.. "Jack? Why won't you tell me what happened? I know something happened. I can feel the tension rolling off of all of you."

Jack turned back to the window, carefully watching Ianto's reflection in the glass.

"You're all uncomfortable if I go anywhere near your minds, Owen practically leaps across the room... Please? Jack please tell me what happened." Ianto hit him with the full force puppy eyes, powerful even reflected, and Jack felt his will waiver.

He shook his head sharply, turning back to his lover. "Ianto I'm sorry, but no. Owen thinks it for the best if the memories come back naturally, slowly. I know how you feel. I've lost memories in the past too, and I know what it feels like to want them back _now_. But I won't endanger your health, mental, or physical."

Ianto hissed though his teeth in frustration, throwing the dvds to the side. "Jack it's my memories! I want them back! I want to know what happened to me!" He shifted until he was kneeling in front of Jack, staring up at him. His fists were clenching and releasing against the sort carpet.

"I want to know why I woke up on the autopsy table with you hovering over me! I want to know why I'm in pain, I want to know why I'm dizzy. I want to know why I scare you. I deserve to know, Jack!"

Jack gave him a pained, helpless look. He felt like crying, felt the itch in the back of his throat. He couldn't stand to see anyone he cared about in pain. Especially when there was nothing he could do to make it better.

Ianto sighed and Jack tried not to flinch at the gentle presence against his mind that was Ianto reading his emotions. The presence retreated and Ianto pulled himself up, settling himself on Jack's lap, knees bracing Jack's thighs. He lent forward, winding his arms around Jack's neck and bumping their foreheads softly.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't pressure you. You're trying to do the right thing."

Jack buried his face in Ianto's neck and hugged him tightly, desperately wishing he could fix this somehow. Wave a magic wand and take away all his pain and confusion and make everything better again. He knew what Ianto was going though. he'd been there. Hell, he was still there. He still couldn't remember two years of his life. But now...now with every fiber of his being he was praying to every god and goddess he'd ever heard of, that Ianto would never, ever remember what had happened. No matter how much it hurt to not know.

Jack pulled back and ran a hand over Ianto's face gently, noting the tiredness in his eyes, and the faint lines of pain. His nerve endings misfiring, the weevils still hurting him. "Come on. You've been cleaning for a while, you want to try sleeping again? I'll stay with you."

Ianto sighed, sliding off Jack's lap. "Oh alright. I'll take another try." The two moved to the bed room, Jack grabbing a water bottle from the counter that Ianto had been nursing earlier. Ianto flipping through his docked ipod, settling on noises from the rainforest. They crawled on to the bed, on top of the sheets and curled up comfortably together. Jack laughed softly as Ianto nuzzled into his ribs, grumbling good naturedly about being sent to bed like a naughty child.


	19. Chapter 20

They lay like that, not asleep, but enjoying the peaceful quiet, and each other's company. Once it became apparent that Ianto wasn't planning, or wasn't able to, sleep, Jack started pointing out stars he could name, telling outrageous stories about adventures he had on the planets that circled him.

Jack had just wrapped up an inricate, mostly true tale, about the time he had been accidently sold as a designer pet to a group of tentacled, but strangely alluring, Thuriens.

Ianto's watch started beeping and Ianto stirred, his head lifting off of Jack's chest. Ianto had set his watch to remind him of the feeding schedule for the hub's inhabitants, though he usually already had food in hand by the time it ever went off. They always had a last meal at 10:00 pm, or else he would be in danger of the weevils eating their boiler suits by breakfast.

"That late?" Ianto murmered. "Feeding time at the zoo. I should run to the hub and back. You stay here. I shouldn't be more then ten-fifteen minutes maybe."

Jack tensed and tightened his arm around Ianto to keep him from getting up. "No. It's okay. Everyone knows you're out sick, they'll handle it. Owen's still there"

"The weevils are used to me. Janet and Brad are stressed out enough as it is, with those rowdy new one, we shouldn't switch up their schedule anymore than necessary."

"No."

"Jack! I need to feed the weevils!" Ianto tried to squirm away, pushing at Jack's chest.

"Ianto its okay, you don't need to worry about it..."

"Of course I do..of course. It's my job, Jack." Jack heard Ianto's heart rate increase, could hear the hint of panic in his voice.

"No Ianto. It's okay"

"Jack, why don't I need to worry about the weevils?"

Jack sucked in a breath, feeling his own panic rising. What the hell was he supposed to do? Come out and tell Ianto? Let him keep getting more and more scared? He rubbed Ianto's back, pressing his shaking hand firmly against Ianto's warm skin.

"Jack, please let me go feed the weevils." Ianto's voice sounded small and pitiful, and his heart was racing like a terrified rabbit. The hands that had been pushing him away were now tangled in his shirt, pulling him closer.

"Ianto..."

"Oh." The younger man whispered.

"Ianto." Jack repeated, feeling helpless.

"Oh. Oh my god. I was down there. I was with them. I was...I was trying to talk to them and...oh god!" Ianto jerked away from Jack, bolting upright in the bed, the blood draining from his face.

"Ianto, it's not your fault. They were attacking you. They almost killed you!" Jack reached out, pulling Ianto towards him as the younger man tried to flinch away. He tucked Ianto's head to his shoulder, rubbing his fingers gently over the nape of Ianto's neck.

"I- I killed them! Oh...I- their heads! The blood! So much blood! I did that!" he pulled away again, reaching to scrub at the tears on his cheeks.

Jack grabbed Ianto's hand firmly and looked into his eyes. "It's not. Your. Fault." Jack said slowly. "Ianto please. Please believe me. I know you. There's no way you would have done something like that if it was under your control. You're the victim here."

Ianto whimpered and curled in on him self, hugging his knees, trying to become as small as possible. "Oh god. I can't control it. I didn't want to do it. I didn't know I could. I could do it again! I could kill someone else!"

Jack made soft crooning noises at Ianto and reached out, running his hand though the younger man's hair. He tried to move closer, but Ianto flinched away, teetering on the edge of the mattress. Jack kept his distance. "It's okay. You're going to be okay sweetheart. I'll make this okay. I'll do everything I can to make this okay."


	20. Chapter 21

Owen froze as he entered his flat, taking in the clean surfaces. He sighed and rolled his eyes. He knew Ianto would start cleaning, even before he had gotten the tip off call. He'd seriously doubted that Jack could keep Ianto in bed the whole time he was gone, but god. Ianto must have gone on a cleaning binge. The place was nearly spotless. The sent of disinfectant was heavy in the air, and Owen was pretty damn sure he could preform surgery in here now.

Both of his lovers were missing, but the bedroom door was open and Jack's coat was folded neatly over both of their shoes beside the couch, so he wasn't too worried.

He dropped his bag beside the door, and threw his jacket on top of it before moving to the kitchen, putting away a handful of groceries. He had been fairly sure there was nothing actually edible left in his refrigerator, and doubted a lot of his cupboard basics would have survived Ianto's cleaning spree. He'd send Jack out for a proper shopping trip later.

He tossed the orange juice into the fridge and headed to the bedroom, kicking off his shoes, letting them land haphazardly. He reached the bedroom door and stopped as another scent broke though the disinfectant haze and hit him. Exhaustion. Fear. Terror. Pain.

He bolted into the bed room and found Jack and Ianto laying in the dark. Ianto was curled into a tight ball, shaking like a leaf, and Jack was holding him tightly, trying to comfort him.

"Jack?" Owen whispered.

Jack blinked and looked up. The moment their eyes met, Owen knew. There was too much pain in Jack's eyes to be anything else. Ianto's memories were back.

Owen stepped forward cautiously and slid onto the bed. He ran a hand over Ianto's back, wanting to comfort him.

Ianto gasped and whimpered, as if burned by the touch. Owen was sure he would have tried to get away if he weren't so exhausted. "Oh god, Owen, no wonder you were terrified." Ianto's voice was muffled by Jack's shoulder as he burrowed in further, trying to hide. "I'm deadly. I'm poison. I - I'm a monster.

Owen growled and roughly pulled him over onto his back and looked into his eyes. "Shut. Up. No one talks about my Ianto like that. Not even you." He swept his fingers down Ianto's cheek. "You are not a monster, you're not poison. I love you, you idiot. We're going to figure this out, and help you. Same fucking way we figured out mine and Jack's senses."

Ianto just stared at him with red, miserable eyes.

Owen dug up a shaky smile that he doubted was as reassuring as he meant it to be, and dropped a kiss on Ianto's forehead. "Do you want me to give you something to help you sleep? Maybe you'll feel better after you get some rest."

Ianto nodded, and Owen got up and got his medical kit, as Jack coaxed Ianto out of his dress shirt and trousers, before settling him back against his side under the covers.

Owen sorted through the medkit he had brought home earlier and pulled out a pre-filled syringe and a small plaster, before sitting down next to Ianto and putting his arm in his lap. "Just a light dose. Something to help you relax and get to sleep." He wiped Ianto's arm off quickly with an alcohol pad, and checked for bubbles. "Quick pinch." He pushed the needle in and pressed down slowly and steadily watching the fluid drain into Ianto's blood stream.

He tossed the syringe at the wastebasket, not quite making it. He smiled at Ianto's faintly disapproving look as he stuck on the plaster. Only he would be worried about that now. "There we go. All done."

Owen kept petting Ianto, watching till his eyes closed, and his breathing deepened and evened out. He gently tucked Ianto's arm back under the cover. Only then did he let him self start shaking violently. He ran a hand through his hair, clutching it. "What- what happened while I was gone?"

Jack stared up at the ceiling, voice dull and miserable. "He slept for a while, then woke up and started cleaning like a mad man. I knew I wouldn't be able to stop him, so I just sat back, stayed out of his way, and let him so his thing, while I kept a ear on his vitals." Jack turned, gathering Ianto up against him, lifting the covers so that Owen could slide in next to them.

"Then... then he asked me about what happened. God he sounded like he was in so much pain...but I told him no, and we wound up going back to bed to try to sleep again."

"Did he?" Owen stretched out, curving around the unconscious man, grateful for Jack's touch as the older man stretched an arm over Ianto, curling around Owen's hip.

Jack shook his head. "Hasn't slept since we came here."

"Dammit."

"Mmm." Jack agreed. "Then his weevil feeding time alarm went off, and- and within a minute or two his memories all flooded back and..." he gestured. "You can see what happened.

"How long has he been like this?"

Jack shook his head, glancing at the alarm clock. "An hour. Maybe?"

Owen made a noise the was half laugh and half sob, letting himself wallow in despair for a brief moment. "Fuck! I never believed in any of that crap, but I'm starting to believe we're cursed. Maybe Ianto's right. Maybe all of us are cursed to never be allowed to be happy. Everyone, everything we love gets destroyed."

Jack's hand left his hip, gripping his hand tightly, and tugging it so that both of their hands rested on Ianto's chest, over the strong slow pulse. "I won't deny I've had those thought my self...for a long, long time. But...we've _been_ happy. Everything was great till the fucking super weevils started showing up and messing with Ianto's head."

Owen rubbed his face. "Speaking of weevils, I got though a few of the autopsies. All the same. Aneurysms. Massive damage. No signs of anything that made them super so far." He frowned, looking for the folder he didn't remember dropping. "Tattoos. In their mouths. Like horses." He winced as his voice slurred. He hadn't realized how tired he was until he hit the mattress.

"No more work talk...let just go to sleep and maybe we'll wake up and find this was all some fucking nightmare. Who knows, maybe we'll wake up in my room."

Owen sighed. "I wish... I really, really wish."


	21. Chapter 22

Jack sat on the bar stool at the counter, eyes staring blankly at the patterned tile. A glass of orange juice was sitting by his elbow, slowly becoming lukewarm. Behind him Owen puttered muttering directions to himself and banging pots, as he made them something to eat.

Floating on the stool beside him OC trilled, tugging experimentally at the short leash that kept him tethered to the counter, away from the windows. Owen had shoved the little camera in his bag to bring him home, leaving Jack with the problem of controlling it. The captain reached out, scritching a lens cap absently.

Morning light glinted though the windows, and Jack felt annoyed that it was so bright and sunny, while their life was falling apart.

They'd managed to sleep for most of the night, until Ianto woke up and needed another sedative. He had been in tears before he was even fully awake, and refused to let either of them near him. He had administered the dose himself.

After that Jack and Owen couldn't get back to sleep, didn't want to take anything them selves, so they just sat up watching their young lover the rest of the night, refusing to consider what would happen when the sedatives wore off again.

Jack's eyes swiveled up to Owen as he heard his heart rate speed up. The doctor had stopped, the heels of his hand digging into his eyes. "Owen?"

"Okay." Owen reassured. "have to see about getting blinds. Fucking hell. Have I mentioned lately I hate this?" Owen leaned against the bar next to Jack, eyes still closed.

Jack wrapped a arm around his waist and hugged him, dropping a kiss on his neck. "Where are your sunglasses?"

"Uh...the hub? ...maybe?"

Jack snorted. "You are bad. We're going to have to get you some granny chains to keep them around your neck."

"I thought I had some around here somewhere."

Jack's eyes flickered to the bedroom door, being trained, by this point for Ianto to suddenly pop up with a sarcastic comment and the missing item in hand.. He caught Owen doing the same before he winced and closed his eyes again.

"I take them off when it stops hurting, and then I forget where I put them... Why my bloody eyes can't just stop freaking out, I don't know! It's not like they suddenly zoom across the room like a microscope without warning, or anything, which was fucking-well weird enough thank you. It's just the lights that kill me..."

Jack rubbed soothing circles on Owen's shoulder as his lover babbled. "Breathe. Try to turn down the dials, ok? Remember what Ianto says."

Owen sucked in a sharp breath, squeezing his eyes closed for a minute. "Yeah, yeah." When he opened them again he looked less pained. "What are we gonna do Jack? God we're helpless without him. I- it's not even the fucking senses, I love him." Owen abandoned the breakfast, and burrowed into Jack's embrace. "I don't- I can't be away from him. But I can't help being fucking terrified every time he tries to poke my brain to find out what's wrong...how are we gonna fix him? Is it even possible?"

Jack swallowed. "I don't know. But we'll find something. We have to. I don't care if I have to hunt down every alien device in the universe, I don't care if I have to track down The Doctor, we'll find a way to make this better. If it's the last thing I do, I'll make Ianto okay again." Ianto was going to be okay. He would have to be.

Owen pressed his forehead against Jack's shoulder, pulling in a long shaky breath. After a moment, Jack felt Owen nod against his shoulder and then pull back. Owen turned to the stove. "Uh what do you want? Bland right? Yeah should be bland, stomach fucked up, and your taste..."

Jack let Owen distract him self with cooking. Let him try to forget for a few minutes, if he could.

Both of their heads shot to the bedroom door as it slowly opened and a exhausted, miserable Ianto shuffled out. The younger man's eyes flicked up briefly, before focusing back on the carpet.

Jack and Owen both started towards him, but he threw his hands up, and pressed back against the door jam. "No! Stay back! Stay away! I don't want to hurt you." even without Owen's eyesight Jack could see the tremor's in Ianto's upraised hands.

"Ianto it's okay. We've hardly been away from you. Nothing's happened. You're not going to hurt us." Jack soothed, inching forward, like he was dealing with a scared wild animal. Behind him OC let out a small warbly coo, and Jack saw the barest hint of a smile at the corner of Ianto's mouth, at the camera's attempt at comfort.

The smile disappeared though as Jack crossed some imaginary line, getting too close. Ianto shook his head sharply. "No. Just stay away. Please. I- I can't stand the thought of hurting one of you." He turned to Owen, "Owen I need more sedatives."

Owen shook his head sharply, and moved forward quickly enough to grab Ianto before he could jerk back. "No Yan. You've been sedated since last night. We can't keep drugging you forever, we need to find another way to deal with this." As he talked, Owen manhandled him over to a chair and pushed his down while he started checking his pupils, and pulse. "Jack, get my bag so I can give him a quick look over."

Ianto flinched and tried to pull away. "Owen no! I'm a murderer! I- I slaughtered those weevils. I could do the same thing to you! You can't kill me, we're connected, that'd hurt you, but the only safe thing to do it keep me unconscious."

Jack gritted his teeth at Ianto's words, handing Owen his bag where he was kneeling in front of Ianto. He slipped behind Ianto, wrapping his arms carefully around him.

"Do you have a medical license? No? Then shut up! Jack and I will fix this, but the answer isn't turning you into a drug addict."

"Just until you figure out how to fix it?" Ianto gave him desperate, pleading look.

Owen groaned and pressed his hands over his face.

"Owen? Are you ok?" Ianto asked quietly, no hint of his earlier panic in the tone they had labeled his guide voice. He reached out towards the doctor, pausing at the last second and letting his hand fall back to his lap.

"Yeah, fine. Tension headache, and I need blinds. ...and maybe antacids." Owen mumbled from behind his hands.

"Is the light hurting so bad?" Ianto pressed, sighing when Owen nodded.

"I found some sunglasses when I was cleaning." He offered. "They're in that drawer right behind you."

Owen blinked, and leaned back, rummaging through the drawer. He pulled out a scratched pair of sunglasses and slipped them on. "God, that feels good."

Jack laughed, the sound only slightly forced, as he tightened his grip on Ianto slightly. "I have something at the hub that should work. Alien technology. I'll find it for you later when we go in." He said bending over to drop a kiss on the top of Owen's head.

Ianto gave Jack a disproving frown. "We're not supposed to remove alien technology from the hub."

Jack smirked. "I'm the boss. I can ignore the rules if I want..."

Owen snorted while he started pulling out equipment to examine Ianto. "You're a bad influence on us youngsters, old man."

For several silent moments, Ianto let Owen poke and prod at him, but soon he started trembling again. Jack could feel the tensing muscles beneath his hands. Owen noticed too, cutting the exam short, proclaiming him healthy but in need of a good breakfast, before turning back to the stove too quickly, banging the pots too loudly.

"Jack." Ianto's voice was small again, scared, and the younger man was pushing at his arms. "Jack, please let me go. Please. You can't touch me."

Jack swore silently to himself, and let his arms drop to his side, trying not to let his heart break as Ianto bolted away to the far end of the kitchen.


	22. Chapter 23

Jack paced in front of his desk. God damn Ianto! His eyes flicked to the computer screen, at the live feed from OC, back at the flat with Ianto.

Owen sat in Jack's chair, eye never leaving the screen. "How the fuck does he talk us into these things? I swear to god I'm going to throttle him!"

Jack sighed and flop down across from the desk. "He's Ianto. We're his bitches." He rubbed his eyes. "He wanted to meditate and see if that helped. He doesn't want us around in case he...blows again or something."

On the screen Ianto was lying stretched out on the floor in Owen's flat, perfectly centered in a patch of sunlight. It was hard to tell if he was actually meditating, or just sleeping.

Owen sighed and pushed him self back sharply. "I'm going to go insane sitting here watching, not being able to do anything... Gwen's doing some research into any scientific cases like this. I'm gonna go see if she's got anything. Maybe we can figure this out."

Jack shot another look at the screen. "Same. Tosh is working on looking though metaphysical sites looking for anything similar to this. I'll see if I can give her a hand."

Both moved out of the office towards their co-workers hoping to take their minds off of the situation.

---

Owen walked down the dim, damp halls towards the archive. He winced and turned his sense of smell lower. He hated it down here. It was smelly and creepy, and held far too many bad memories.

He needed to get a look at some files from Torchwood, and since Ianto was at home meditating, and the reason he was looking in the first place, he had to venture into Ianto's personal lair.

He stepped into the right room and blinked at the sight of Ianto's wolf hound stretched out on an old desk, eyeballing him. "Hey. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Ianto?"

The dog didn't answer, just wagged his tail, thumping against the stained wood. He hopped up and jumped down, pressing against Owen, making him stumble for a second before he could right himself.

Owen shook his head, and stroked the dog. "What are we gonna do with you two huh? Come on. You're part of Ianto. Maybe you can help me find that file..."

The dog panted happily and walked with him though the archives, as Owen searched for the section with the files he needed according to the the card catalog. He pulled out the photo he's taken during the autopsy, of the mark, more of a tattoo, or brand really. tw01-03-24 and a small triangle with a circle. He knew he'd seen it some where before, and he was pretty sure the files would tell him.

The room branched out, into long hallways, and smaller rooms. Most were labeled with small plaques, and it was a long walk before Owen found the one he was looking for. He poked his head into the open doorway and winced. The shelves went on for what seemed like forever, and towered over his head. This might take a while...

The dog rolled his eyes and trotted down to the second set of shelves, and carefully raised up, nosing a box at shoulder level. Owen followed and grinned. "Good boy! Thanks." He ruffled the dog's ears and pulled out the box, dropping down the the floor, with the box in front of him so he could flip though the files.

"Gotcha." he murmured as he picked out the folder he had been looking for. He read through it quickly "Shit. Shitshitshit. I knew I've seen that mark before. Just fucking great. Lousy Torchwood bastards can't stop making my life hell, even after they're dead!" The dog nuzzled his shoulder sympathetically

He stood up and tucked the file under his arm, turning back towards the door. The dog looked at the box on the floor and barked, giving Owen a glare.

"Oh come on. I'll come back later and fix it. Christ you're as persnickety as Ianto..."

The dog glared again, but led Owen back up to the main hub, where he could share his finding with the others.


	23. Chapter 24

Ianto breathed slowly, legs folded under him, sitting in a patch of sunlight in Owen's living room. OC floated about over his head, circling him and recording.

By force of will, after a long stretch of time, he slowly relaxed, and slipped into meditation.

He looked around the forest, the same one he first found him self in all those months ago. "Hello? Is- is there anyone here? Anyone who can help me? Please?" His voice echoed in the forest, and he heard the desperation and pleading carry far.

Nothing. Ianto sighed and dropped down the the ground. What was he going to do? Why did this have to happen to him? Why couldn't things stay like they were? Happy. They'd been so happy. Not exactly normal, they still were members of Torchwood after all, but as normal as things got, happy, in love, getting sex regularly...

And now he was a murderer. He'd killed a room full of weevils. With his _mind_! He couldn't stand the thought he might do that to someone else. To someone he loved.

Ianto hugged his knees to his chest and slowly rocked back and forth as he felt tears prick his eyes.

He shook his head and pulled in a breath, pulling him self back to the real world.

He looked around and stood. Maybe some more cleaning...

He paced around the flat, wiping things off, straightening already straight piles.

Finely he hissed though his teeth and went to the bedroom to get dressed. He'd go out. Maybe a walk would calm him down.

Strangely, his clothes were gone. No shoes, no trousers, no shirts. Even Jack's things were gone. His choices were go out in his boxers and T-shirt, try too squeeze into Owen's tiny clothes, or stay home. He glared into OC's hovering camera, "Jack? Owen? You- you're getting decaf!"

He huffed and wandered back into the living room. He could try watching tv, or a movie, but he just felt too restless and tense.

He dropped down to the floor, to give meditating another chance. With a sigh he flopped backwards, sprawling out on the hard wood, and closed his eyes.

He opened his eyes in the forest, and started walking. He was too miserable to feel that old thrill of running though the woods, his dog companion, the wolverine, and the swamp lion, no where in sight. He walked slowly, hoping for some inspiration on how to fix this.

He walked into a clearing and frowned. There was something... he walked further in, and felt an unexplained urge to walk around the spot he was heading towards. He was Torchwood. He was very familiar with perception filters, and this felt vaguely like that. Like something was being hidden from him. He tried to push forward, but felt like a forcefield was holding him back.

He glared and tried to moved around to another side, and get at it from there. No luck.

He kept trying. He tried from every angle, he tried climbing a tree and dropping down from above, which only got him landing out side the bubbled off area, on his arse. He even tried mentally shoving it. Nothing worked, he was not getting in there.

Suddenly his head jerked towards the side, like he was hearing, but not really hearing something. He felt a sharp tugging in his chest, and found him self rushing back to the real world.

"IANTO! Open the fucking door, or I'm letting Jack kick it down!" Owen barked from the hallway outside.

Ianto jumped up with a curse. "Coming! Coming! No door kicking!"

He closed the door, pulled the chain off, and Owen and Jack burst in, looking concerned. "Ianto? Sweetheart, what happened? Are you alright?"

Owen was pushing Ianto down on the couch, starting to examine him, even as Jack fired off questions worriedly.

Ianto gave them both bewildered looks.

"Ianto, you haven't moved in hours. We thought you'd died! Fuck! You're freezing!" Owen snapped pulling a thermometer out of his medical kit and tried to press it into Ianto's ear. Ianto glared. "Yan, stop being difficult!"

Ianto glared harder, then paused. "If you thought I'd died, the door would be in splinters."

"...alright fine, we knew you were still alive, just really, really really deep."

"How?"

Owen scratched his ear and looked slightly embarrassed. "Uh...I sprinted to the hub and back to stick a monitor in here, while you were in the shower this morning." Owen pointed into the corner and Ianto spotted a small black box, sitting amongst the knick knacks, blending in.

"Owen!" Ianto snapped outraged.

"Jack said I could! We needed to monitor your vitals, since we wouldn't be here to do it our selves."

"I'm surprised you didn't just stick a tracker up my arse, while I was asleep..."

"We've thought about it." Jack muttered, going into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

Ianto glared, then it was ruined by a yawn.

Owen rubbed his arm, pulling him in to hug him.

Ianto melted into the familiar, warm touch for a minute. Then he remembered where he was, and what was happening and tensed and pulled away. "Owen no. I haven't found a way to fix this. Did- did you find anything yet, today?"

Owen sighed, rubbing his face. "Not really, no. I'm sorry Yan...we're trying."

Ianto squeezed his eyes closed and sighed. "I know, Owen. It's not your fault. It's mine. It's my fault."

"Ianto don't make me smack you. You keep that talk up, and I will. You are not to blame. You didn't ask to get the ability to blow up heads, it just happened to you. You were defending your self. If I kicked someone, who was trying to kill me, in the chest and hit them in the precise place it takes to stop their heart, would you let me call my self a murderer? No because it was a accident while I was trying to protect my self."

Ianto shook his head. "Owen I'm tired."

Owen rolled his eyes. "Look, answer some questions about what happened when the weevils attacked, and have some lunch, then I'll drug you into lala land again, alright?"

Ianto didn't want to talk about, didn't want to remember, but he did want to go to sleep and not wake up for a few hours, so nodded his agreement.

Owen stood and held out his hand to Ianto. "Come on. We'll talk while I cook. In the mood for anything in particular?"

"Not really hungry. Whatever you want to make." Ianto sighed ignoring Owen's hand and pushed him self up from the couch. Owen didn't say, or show anything, but Ianto felt his flash of hurt and felt guilty. He tried to ignore it. It was was for Owen's own good. He was dangerous, and could hurt him. Owen turned and headed into the kitchen, Ianto following.

Jack hovered nearby, with a cup of hot tea, and Ianto could feel the emotions just wafting off him. Love, worry, fear, affection, and just a hint of lust. He turned and gave Jack a small smile.


	24. Chapter 25

After getting at least a few bites of food into Ianto, Owen finally relented and given him a sedative. He wasn't happy about doing it, but Ianto was just upsetting himself by being awake. Owen stayed with his younger lover until Ianto fell asleep, and then quietly made his way to the living room.

Jack was sitting on the couch, and nearly as soon as Owen joined him, Ianto's spirit dog appeared and climbed into Jack's lap, arranging his bulk carefully, too large and heavy to be truly comfortable.

Owen leaned into Jack's side, petting the dog, and shifting it so that they shared the animals weight. "He's asleep. So…"

"So. Um..." Jack trailed off. "You were saying something about tattoos earlier?" he asked abruptly.

"Yeah. Didn't want to say anything until the meeting. I found them on the inside of the lips of all our dead Super weevils. They looked vaguely familiar so I tracked them down in the archives. They were identification codes. Torchwood One used to mark weevils they were experimenting on."

Jack's hand instinctively tightened around the dog's fur, and the large animal yelped. "Sorry boy." he muttered. The dog licked his face, accepting the apology, and Jack continued. "So these weevils were victims of Torchwood's sick games? Just great."

Owen nodded against Jack's shoulder. "Yeah. More causalities of Torchwood. Wanted super soldiers. The good news is they are…well.. were sterile. There's not too much information, but it looks like they might have been screwing around with their psychic abilities, probably to control them. You saw how Ianto could push them around."

"So they get someone who's a strong psychic-"

"Or a guide."

"What?" Jack growled.

"The same group working with Sentinels and Guides. Well, that's who the group working with the weevils reported to,"

"So, they were going to- fuck."

"Yeah."

Jack kissed the top of Owen's head. "Yes. We'll fix this. We'll make this better."

The dog whined pitifully and nudged them to talk less, pet more. While Ianto had pushed them away, his spirit guide demanded attention.

Jack scratched behind his ears, while hugging Owen with his free arm. "This will get better. It has too."

Owen sighed, ruffling the dog's fur. He wished he could be so sure.

---

Ianto walked though the woods. They were slightly hazy, probably from the medication. He circled the bubbled off area. It was wrong. This was his own mind, why couldn't he get in there?

He kicked the bubble in irritation. It didn't have any effect, though his toes throbbed ever so slightly.

There was just something wrong with not being able to get access to a part of his own mind. He was Ianto Jones. He was Torchwood. Torchwood Three, he quickly corrected. He had access to every part of Torchwood, there was no computer system he or Tosh couldn't hack into. He just was not used to not being able to get into somewhere. He had even found Jack's secret alcohol for christ's sake.

Ianto growled and tensed his whole body, preparing to throw him self against the bubble. He was getting though there, dammit!

- -

It had been an hour since Owen had joined Jack on the couch. Owen was still petting the large dog, and Jack had just started to doze when he heard a low, frightening noise from the next room.

Jack head snapped around and he stared towards the bedroom. "Ianto?"

"What's wrong?!" Owen demanded, jerking upright.

"Ianto just...growled I think." Jack pushed the dog down off his lap and went into the bedroom, Owen at his heels.

Both stopped as they saw Ianto arching on the bed, muscles tensed, jaw clenched tightly. Owen shot across the room and started examining Ianto. "Yan?! Yan come on! Wake up!"

"Is he having a seizure?!"

"I don't think so. I think he's acting out his dreams, or something." Owen mumbled, still looking him over.

Jack knelt on the bed next to Ianto and shook his shoulder gently. "Ianto? Ianto wake up, sweetheart it's okay, wake up."

"That's not going to work Jack" Owen ignored the fact that he had just tried it himself. "He's still full of sedatives. Look, he's relaxing now. It's okay."

Of course, Ianto chose just that moment to tense again, back arching up off the bed, straining against his lovers hands.

Owen growled, and slid his hand up to shake Ianto's shoulder. "Goddammit. Ianto! Wake up!"

---

Ianto prepared to throw himself at the bubble again when he felt something. Something shaking him. Fear surged though him as he spun to face the woods. There was no one here. There shouldn't be anyone here. He took a breath and got ready to lash out, protecting himself from the unseen threat. Behind him the bubble wavered, walls thinning as the threat grew closer.

---

Jack and Owen jerked back as Ianto's large wolfhound leapt onto the bed and moved between them and Ianto. Using his large body, the dog shoved them away, standing over Ianto guarding him..

"Hey! Oi, Dog! Come on, shove over! I'm trying to work here!"

The dog gave him a look of pure condescending, and laid down. resting his head on Ianto's chest, grumbling and showing his teeth when either of the men got to close.

---

Ianto felt a sense of warmth and protection settling over him. He paused and relaxed as he felt the reassuring presence of his animal guide, even if he couldn't see it. Faintly he heard a soft warning growl, and the threat he had felt before was gone.

He settled down and turned back to pondering the bubbled off area, trying to think his way in, rather then force it. There had to be something.


	25. Chapter 26

Owen and Jack sat on the floor staring at Ianto while he slept. They wanted to be closer, but the dog wouldn't let them, nuzzling Ianto's chest, and snarling when one of them got to close. So they had to settle for what they could get, which was sitting and worrying while keeping an obsessive eye on them with their senses. Ianto had settled down quickly enough under the dog's care.

They had talked as well, and formed a plan.

Speaking of- Jack lifted his head as he heard Ianto's heart rate quicken. Ianto shifted and blinked as he woke up slowly from his drug induced nap.

The dog blurred and faded with a last wet lick to Ianto's cheek, and a stern look toward the two other men. Jack and Owen flew across the room to Ianto's side.

Ianto gave them a wide eyed, startled look as they both started petting and checking him over. "I- what?" His expression was slightly dazed.

"You were having some kind of attack while you were asleep. And the dog wouldn't let us help you!" Jack sounded petulant and upset as he ran his hands over Ianto, stroking his chest and feeling the heart beat beneath his fingertips.

Ianto blinked more then seemed to realize they would touching him and scrambled back, away from them. "No! Nononono! No touching! I could hurt you!"

Owen sighed, but sat back and ran his hands though his hair. "Ianto. We need to...work on this. Same as Jack and my senses, we need to test and find out how they work, and how to control them. You can't just...not touch us."

"Are you fucking insane?!" Ianto roared. He rarely cursed, which made the few times he did that much more impressive. "I. Can. Kill. You! This isn't smell, or taste, or touch, this is the power to blow up your head!"

"Ianto" Jack soothed, holding out a hand to hover over Ianto's shoulder. "What else are we going to do? We need to test this, so we can control it. We'll use me. Immortal. Even if I die, I'll bounce back up. Owen will stay safely out of range, and you'll focus on me."

"What?! No! No way in hell! I am not using that- that horrible.. on you! You saw what I did to those weevils, Jack! I- oh god!" Ianto covered his face and rocked himself slightly, breathing harshly. "I won't do it."

"You have before." Owen tried to argue rationally. "You've shoved us both before, and all we got was some headaches, and a nosebleed. The headache wasn't even that bad. Trust me, I'm a doctor. I know these things. And I've had worse. So it's not that dangerous. Maybe the fiddling Torchwood 1 did made the weevils easier to go splody, or something."

"I- what? Torchwood 1? They....they're involved with this?" Ianto's breathing got shallower, words coming out between hiccups. Jack realized, belatedly, that maybe they were throwing too much information at Ianto all at once.

"A-again?" Ianto continued. "What next?! Will we find out they were secretly behind Hitler?! They invented atomic bombs?! What?! You can't - me.. you can't- I won't-"

Jack and Owen pulled Ianto to them and stoked his hair, making nonsense soothing noises while he sobbed.

Ianto curled into them for a few minutes before pulling away again. "Jack, Owen no. We- I... Please don't make me do this? Please?" he pleaded,

Jack and Owen exchanged pained looks. "Ianto...just...a little shoving maybe?" Jack tried to coax.

Ianto made a pitiful moaning noise, keeping his eyes firmly closed as he shook his head.

Owen rubbed his arm soothingly. "Alright, alright no testing. Calm down. Come on Yan, shush."

Jack fought not to pull Ianto in again and hold him.

"How about we go get something to eat, yeah?" Owen continued. "Watch some tv? Relax a bit. Haven't have any down time, just the three of us, in ages."

Jack nodded going along with Owen. "Right. A nice vacation. Come on, that sounds fun, right?"

Ianto gave them a baleful glare, followed by a sniff. "This is not the time to be goofing off."

"Not goofing off. As your doctor, I declare we're all in desperate, vital, right this minute need of rest and relaxation. So get your arse up, and lets so slack off properly! I'll get the porn." Owen declared firmly, standing up and leaving the bedroom.

Jack grinned, trying to flood the room with happy carefree feelings, without pushing them directly at Ianto. "You heard the man. Up's a daisy!"

Ianto sighed. "Can I use the bathroom and freshen up a bit first at least?" He rubbed at the pillow crease on his cheek, wiping discreetly at the tear tracks running down his face.

"Alright, but I want you out there, and ready to do nothing in a couple minutes!" Jack said with a playful grin, and kissed Ianto deeply before following Owen out of the room. Jack waited until he heard shuffling feet, and the bathroom door shut before he let his shoulders slump.

"Fuck."


	26. Chapter 27

Ianto shifted on the couch, trying to ignore the urge to pull farther away from Owen and Jack. Despite him self, he was feeling more relaxed. His lovers had gone to lengths to make him happy and safe. Owen had made a late breakfast, and hadn't acted upset when Ianto could barely do more than nibble. Jack had started in with the touches, soft and fleeting until he convinced Ianto that just touching his lovers wouldn't hurt anyone.

Even O.C. had gotten in on the act, allowing itself to be hooked up to the television, and playing a marathon session of Ianto's favorite movies.

It was nice. It didn't change anything of course, but I was a little easier for Ianto to forget what had happened, like a vague bad dream. He was pretty sure Owen had slipped something in his drink.

So he sat on the couch, allowing his lovers to coddle him, discreetly brushing their fingers over his leg, or leaning against his shoulder. He was sure if he was less twitchy about letting them touch him, they'd be rubbing his feet and back, and other parts too. Right now he was just too tired, and too scared think about his new found ability. He settled for shielding himself.

Instead he tried to focus solely on the movie while Jack and Owen sat, shoulders brushing against him, on the couch, They would lean across him, smacking each other playfully as they bickered and joked.

"Oh please! I'm not Buttercup, you are!"

"No, no I think you're much more Buttercup like. I'm more...Inigo Montoya."

Ianto gave them screen an arched eyebrow. "You'd better not be calling ime/i Buttercup."

Owen grinned wickedly. "I don't know....I think it might fit."

"Why you little!" Ianto growled, smacking him on the arm.

Owen grinned widely, and pushed him self up off the couch. "Even without super hearing, Jack's stomach is interrupting the movie. I'm gonna get started on supper." Owen snorted and kissed Ianto and Jack before wandering into the kitchen. "Look at me, I'm turning into a housewife!"

Ianto snickered and tentatively stretched out across Owen's vacated, warm spot, putting his head in Jack's lap. He sighed slightly as he relaxed, eyes closed.

Jack lightly stroked his hair and Ianto hummed contentedly.

They stayed like that relaxed, listening to Owen bang about in the kitchen, competing with the noise from the television. At first Ianto didn't react to the gentle brush across his mind. He'd gotten used to it long ago with Jack, and he just brushed back lightly, engrossed in the movie.

He felt it again, and responded, sending faint amusement to his lover. It was like a friendly game. When a flicker of concern, masked by lust, was sent back to Ianto, exactly what was happening sunk in. Ianto's eyes flew open as he scrambled across the couch, falling off the side and crawling back till his back hit the wall.

"Ianto?" Jack asked tentatively, looking guilty and worried.

"You! I- Oh god! Jack what were you thinking?!" Ianto was hyperventilating, feeling panic rising. His shields slammed up, and the world wavered around him. He gasped, unable to breathe. Trees started to superimpose themselves over the room, and shadows covered the place where Jack had been.

"No! no no no no!" Ianto squeezed his eyes shut, continuing to chant as he covered his head with his arms.

The shadow surged forward, and Ianto screamed.

Suddenly the dog appeared and clamped around his, dragging him down into the forest, like a snapping rubber band.

---

Owen came running at the raised voices, and saw Ianto huddled in the corner. He swore and tossed the dishtowel he had been holding aside. "What the hell Jack?!"

Jack shook his head wide eyed, and took a step closer to Ianto. Ianto screamed and collapsed, landing in an unconscious sprawl, like a puppet with cut strings. Owen shoved passed Jack.

"SHIT! Ianto?! Ianto!" Owen dropped down next to Ianto and started examining him franticly. He squinted trying to focus his small amount of psychic power, on getting Ianto's shields down so he could see what was wrong. He couldn't feel anything. Nothing. He tried using the trick Ianto had taught them over a month ago, a back door of sorts, to get past the Guide's mental shields. Ianto had been afraid he might zone out during meditations. Owen felt the shield start to melt away, and pushed harder, trying to get inside Ianto's mind to find out what was wrong.

The attack happened so fast that Owen never really realized what happened.

It was like slamming into a brick wall, or rather, a brick wall slamming into him, far worse then that first time Ianto had gotten overwhelmed and shoved them, worse then the migraines he'd been having. Pain flooded though his nervous system, erupting like flames licking though every inch of his body. Vaguely he heard himself screaming. He tasted blood, then everything exploded into red.


	27. Chapter 28

Pain. Lots and lots of pain. That was the fist thing that always came back to Jack as he woke up, awkwardly sprawled on Owen's couch, legs dangling over one arm. "Did anyone get the license number of the truck?" He mumbled, rolling over and falling off the couch with a thump and rolling until he ended up on his back. He lay gasping at the ceiling for a moment, trying to remember what had just happened. It really hurt to think.

He closed his eye, reached out with his senses and heard the familiar, comforting slow thump of his guide's heart in meditation. Maybe he had just had been a nightmare.

Jack's eyes focused more and he sat up, rubbing his face. He winced at the sticky blood, then froze. Blood!

"Ianto?! Owen?! What..." Jack's eyes shot around the room and he felt his heart stop when he saw Owen slumped over next to Ianto, covered in blood.

He shot across the room and gathered Owen up into his arms. "Owen?! Owen wake up! Owen! Ianto! Wake up! What happened?!" He reached over and shook Ianto, trying to bring him out of meditation. Ianto didn't respond and Jack shook him harder, smacking the younger man's head against the wall with the force of it.

Ianto's eyes open blearily and he blinked dazedly up at Jack. "Jack? What-" his eyes landed on Owen. "Owen! What?! I- I- did I?!"

Jack eyes widened further in horror. "You- oh god!" Not again! Oh please god, not like with the weevils, not again!

Ianto stared in horror, eyes not completely in focus. He reached a shaking hand out towards Owen. "...Coc-oen...."

"Stay back!" Jack snapped while he shifted his hold on Owen, senses desperately trying to find any sign of life. Nothing. No pulse. No Breath. The blood covering his face, still dripping, was hot. It puddled beneath him, spreading out.

Ianto reached out again and Jack snarled, sensing only a threat to his fallen lover. "Leave him alone!"

He turned back to the body in his arms, and pressed his lips to Owen's, willing life into him. He couldn't lose Owen. Not like this!

---

Ohgodohgodohgodohgod! Ianto franticly paced in the forest. Something bad had happened, was happening, was going to happen. He knew it. Something horrible.

The dog tried to calm him down, growling softly, but Ianto couldn't.

His head jerked as he felt a tug, and the dog jumped up, latching onto Ianto's trousers with his teeth, trying to hold him in place. Ianto felt himself caught in a tug of war, falling towards the voice calling his name.

Ianto blinked dazedly at Jack. He looked hazy and not all there, half hidden by shadow. the forest faded in and out, as did Jack. "Jack? What-" his eyes landed on Owen's limp and bloody form and he felt like a knife had been stabbed into his chest. "Owen! What?! Oh God- I- I- did I?!"

Jack eyes widened in horror. "You- oh god!"

Ianto stared, letting Jack's disbelief and fear wash over him, as the dog yanked on him harder, trying to pull him back, away from seeing what he was seeing. He reached a hand out towards his dead, oh god he was dead, lover. "Coc Oen...."

"Stay back!" Jack snapped while he shifted his hold on Owen, pulling him away from Ianto, murmuring something Ianto couldn't hear. Lost, Ianto reached out again.

"Leave him alone!"

Ianto allowed the large dog to pull him to his feet. "I'm a monster! Jack knows I'm a monster! He hates me!"

The dog grumbled softly, trying to herd him to the bedroom but Ianto scrambled away, stumbling for the door. Jack didn't try to stop him, all his attention on Owen.

Ianto ran full tilt, needing to get away before he hurt someone else.

---

Blackness. Owen was surrounded by deep, inky dark blackness. And pain. Every part of him hurt. He felt a tugging, something pulling him away from the darkness.

Suddenly air rushed into his lungs and he found him self with breath to scream...so he did.

"Shhh, shh Owen it's ok! It's ok! You're ok! I've got you, I've got you." Someone was holding and rocking him, speaking comfortingly.

He peeled his eyes open and looked up at into Jack's wide, terrified, tear filled eyes. "...Jack? What- what happened?" his voice was scratchy, and horse from screaming. Jack hovered above him, trails of blood creeping from the corners of his mouth, out of his nose, even from his eyes and ears. Fuck.

Jack kissed him, pulling him up even closer to his chest. "You're ok, you're ok, oh thank god, you're ok!"

Owen squeezed his eyes shut again, taking a deep shuddering breath. "Jack-" he stopped, eyes shooting open as he remembered what had happened. "Ianto!" He looked around the room franticly. "Where's Ianto?! Is he in shock? Fuck. Ianto!"

Jack froze and looked around. "I- uh. He's gone." Jack said, almost questioningly.

"Why would he leave?" Owen demanded.

Jack winced and rubbed the back of his neck. "I might have...yelled at him a little."

Owen stared at his lover. White beneath the blood, eyes glassy. "Jack! What the hell were you thinking?!" Owen shot to his feet, then nearly collapsed.

Jack caught and held on to him. "Careful. You lost....uh all your blood. Bleeding to death takes a while to fully recover from."

Owen paled further and gulped, then shook his head. "We have to find Ianto. You know how he's been...how he reacted when- We need to find him! Is he in the flat?"

Jack shook his head, still staring at Owen.

"Fucking let's go then!"

"I know..." Jack was moving slowly, obviously in shock. "But we should clean up, before we leave the flat, unless you want people screaming and calling the police or something." Jack said gently, pulling Owen towards the bathroom.

Owen made it all the way to the couch before the room started spinning, he sat down suddenly, trying not to wince at the wet squelch of blood that came from the cushion.

"New Plan." Owen said, trying to catch his breath. "Hand me the laptop and phone. Go get the blood off. I'll get Tosh to help me track Ianto on the CCTV." Owen raked his eyes up and down his lover's body. "Can you go after Ianto? Are you-"

Jack was already in the bathroom, shedding bloodied clothes.

Owen fell back, exhausted, letting his head hit the back of the couch, he stared up at OC. The small orbit camera bobbed anxiously, high in one corner, chittering worriedly.

"Fuck."


	28. Chapter 29

Run. Have to run. Have to get away. Can't be near anyone. Ianto ran through the streets of Cardiff, sometimes feeling pavement under his feet, wet from the drenching rain, sometimes feeling a leaf strewn forest floor, soaked with falling blood. Always cold. Always alone.

Ianto was shivering, but he hardly noticed, in his frantic rush to get away from his lovers. His hurt lovers, his dead...Run. Keep running. From anyone he could hurt. Stay away from the eyes, the eyes far up in the trees, watching, recording. They'd tell where he went. He couldn't be found. He managed to avoid most of the CCTV cameras, staying to the blind spots, without even really thinking about it,

The rain beat down, soaking though his thin pajama bottoms, but Ianto kept running, doubling back, cutting through alleys, weaving through the city until his sides ached, and his breaths came in short, pained gasps. He started to walk, kicking the wet leaves.

He walked for hours, the storm waning and then strengthening again in cycles. Ianto, finally convinced that he wouldn't be found, stumbled into an empty bus stop, ignoring the bench, and curling up in the corner, hugging his knees, shivering violently. The rain turned to blood against the glass shelter. He broke down sobbing and buried his face in his knees, keening low and miserable.

Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to be a monster? Oh God. Owen.

Ianto screamed letting his head bang back against the wall.

---

Bloody cold, miserable night. Andy hated patrolling on nights like this. Sensible people were at home, or in the pub, or anywhere else but on the soggy streets. Even the criminals couldn't be bothered. He yanked on his collar, trying to keep the rain from flowing down it, dreaming of a nice hot coffee. Maybe one of those fancy lattes. With caramel. And chocolate bits on top of the whipped cream.

He froze as he heard a noise. A bone chilling, heart ripping sound. All thoughts of coffee fled his mind.

Was it a hurt animal or something? His hand hovered over his radio, as he slowly walked forward, listening intently. Maybe a dog had gotten hurt. Hit by a car or something.

He tensed as he heard a human sounding wail. Coming from a bus shelter. Okay not a animal. Crazy homeless person, or a junkie maybe. They tended towards covered areas in this weather. He reached for his nightstick and cautiously approached the small shelter.

Andy immediately spotted a figure huddling in the corner. "Oi! You! Stand up, yeah?"

The figure, a young man in pajamas, just whimpered, curling in tighter to himself, leaving a watery trail of blood as he pulled his bare feet in.

Bleeding wasn't good. No telling what might be in it. And anyone out here barefoot and shirtless was obviously a few straws short. Andy sighed.

"I'm PC Davidson, I'm asking you to stand up, and let me see you."

The sobbing died down slightly, as the man tried to disappear into the wall, and Andy moved a step closer. He stooped down, trying to get a good look at his mystery man. To his surprise, the face looked familiar, despite being waterlogged, with faint traces of blood running from his nose.

"...Jones? Ianto Jones, Isn't it? Torchwood?" Andy asked in disbelief. Had he gone totally off the rails? Was he high, on a bad trip, or something?

Ianto shivered and sobbed and tried to push back against the wall. "Go away! Stay away! Please! Please just stay back!"

Andy felt a stab of worry. "Ianto? Are you- well no clearly I can see you're not alright, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Want me to call a ambulance? Have you taken something?"

Ianto shook his head violently. "I- I'm dangerous! Just stay away! I destroy everything around me!" his eyes darted wildly, clearly seeing things that weren't there. The PC shivered, and resisted the urge to look over his shoulder as Ianto stared at something behind him.

Andy frowned and crouched down, reaching out to touch Ianto, to try to comfort him, and check him for injuries.

Ianto jerked sharply and gasped, muscles tightening as if he were winding up for an attack. Suddenly he went limp and seemed to go catatonic, cloudy eyes still staring at something on the other side of the shelter.

Andy reached out quickly, catching Ianto's head and laying it against the cold glass.

He dug through his pocket for his mobile, clicked the speed dial, and stepped back away from the bus stop, speaking in a low tone, pitched not to carry. "Gwen? It's Andy. I need you and Torchwood. I have someone I think you need to see."


	29. Chapter 30

Where could he be?! God Ianto, why do you do this me..." Jack groaned as he drove though the streets of Cardiff, desperately searching for his missing lover. Reaching out cautiously, he tried to sense the younger man, cursing as his tires bumped up on a curb, snapping his attention back to the car.

Jack cursed again and hit the steering wheel. It wasn't Ianto's fault. It was his. He shouldn't have snapped at Ianto, no matter how scared he was over Owen. He hadn't even realized he snapped, but it was still inexcusable. Ianto had been miserable since the Weevil thing happened, and he should have known better then to yell at him like that. God if anything happened to Ianto, he would never forgive him self.

He hit his Bluetooth as it beeped. "Harkness. "

"Jack!" Gwen's voice sounded excited and frightened. "Andy's found Ianto!"

"How is he? Where is he? Never mind, I'll just follow your car." Jack fumbled around until a small display showing Gwen's car popped into view over a map of Cardiff. He knew the tracking system would come in handy.

"What?!"

"Not the time, Gwen!"

"Fine, but we're talking about this later!" Gwen snapped before disconnecting. Jack rolled his eyes.

"I'm coming Ianto...hang on." He whispered to the windscreen. "Just hang on a little longer."

--

Jack and Gwen's cars screeched to a stop, both arriving at nearly the same moment. Rhys and Gwen stumbled out of Gwen's car, as Jack leapt from the SUV, ignoring the pouring rain as they ran over to Andy. The young PC was standing guard over the bus shelter.

"Where is he?!" Jack demanded, nearly yelling in Andy's face.

Andy hardly batted a eye, and didn't step down. He kept his own voice low and calm, and pointed to the huddled, catatonic figure in the corner. "Right here. He was awake and crying when I found him,then suddenly passed out. He's been like this since I called you."

Jack looked at Ianto. Curled into a small ball, and staring off into the distance, with Andy's jacket draped over his chest. He shivered occasionally, and his lips had a slight blue tinge but he made no effort to pull the jacket closer, or pull away from the cold glass. Jack felt his stomach drop.

"Right. You three-" Jack let a sweeping hand gesture encompass Gwen, Rhys and Andy, "Get away. Go back o the SUV." He ordered. Once they left he knelt down and carded his hand though Ianto's wet hair.

"Ianto? Oh Ianto. Come back to me. Come on sweetheart, I need you. Owen needs you. We have to go home and go see Owen."

Ianto didn't react. His frighteningly slow heartbeat didn't speed up, life didn't return to his glassy eyes.

Jack sighed, pulling a small box from his coat pocket. He had stopped by the hub, searching for Ianto. While there, he had made a stop by the archives. He opened the box and pulled out a small circular device, small enough to fit on the tip of his thumb.

"It's okay Ianto. This won't hurt I promise." He carefully placed the device on Ianto's temple, continuing to speak gently while he waited for the green light that would indicate that the shield was working. "Just a little insurance. Now you don't have to worry. You can come back now and not worry at all." Jack had hesitated at using the device earlier. It was a telepathy blocker, but a primitive one. It wouldn't have been able to differentiate the signatures of Ianto's sentinels and let them through, and Jack knew that Ianto needed that presence.

Jack stroked Ianto's face, delicately avoiding the small blinking device. "Owen's fine sweetheart. He's alive and worried. Let's get you back to him." Jack ran his hands up slowly, covering Ianto's ears, not wanting to startle him.

"Gwen!" He yelled. "Come help me get him into the SUV! We're taking him home!"

It was Rhys who stepped forward, and with the other man's help he managed to get Ianto up and into the black vehicle. Ianto didn't cooperate, but didn't hinder them too much either. He let himself be wrapped up in Jack's coat and bundled into the backseat. Jack had tried to return Andy's police issue jacket, but the other man refused, and it ended up, along with Rhys', covering Ianto's legs and bloody, freezing feet. No one said anything about the piece of technology Jack had had to use.

While Gwen thanked Andy for his help, Jack climbed in the back, and settled Ianto against his side. Gwen would drive. Rhys had agreed to drive her car back.

Jack rested his cheek against Ianto's head. "We're going to fix this. I swear, Ianto, we're going to fix this..."


	30. Chapter 31

Jack carefully ushered Ianto out of the SUV in front of Tosh's flat, keeping a tight grip on him. "Come on Sweetheart. That's it. See you're doing better all ready." Jack gently coaxed Ianto. Standing was good. If Ianto was standing he couldn't be too far gone. Ianto's pulse was still slow, and he was unresponsive.

Gwen ran around the front of the SUV. "Jack, careful! He's feet are all torn up! he shouldn't be standing!"

Jack cursed and quickly picked Ianto up, like a groom carrying his bride over the threshhold.

Ianto didn't react to anything. not being shifted from the car, not standing on his injured feet, the being picked up, nothing got the slightest flinch, blink, increase in heart rate, or anything out of him.

Jack carefully made his way to Tosh's flat, and Gwen knocked. "Rhys-" Gwen began softly, while they waited. "Rhys said he'd bring food, and uhm, sleeping bags. It might be best if Tosh and I.."

He sighed. They were all shaken up, and he didn't blame them for wanting to stay close. "That sounds good." He said tiredly, as the door opened.

Tosh let them in, and Jack stood, holding Ianto tightly. He looked over at Owen, laying on the couch with a few pillows under his feet, and a bag of blood hanging off a coat rack over his head, running down into the IV in his arm. "You alright?"

Owen ignored the question "How is he?"

"He's freezing cold from the rain, and zoned out, but he's alive. Now answer my question. I need to know you're okay, Owen."

"I'm fine. Little tired, bit dizzy when I stand up too fast, but I'm ok. Tosh is just mothering me to within a inch of my life." Owen started to push him self up and Tosh stalked over and pushed him down. She had a gleam in her eye that suggested she was only a few small steps away from strapping Owen down.

"Sit, stay. I'll help Jack take care of Ianto, until that IV finishes, and you can stand up without going white." She ordered, all the while casting worried glances at Ianto.

Owen glared fiercely. "The whole reason I let you use me as a pin cushion, was so I could take care of Ianto!"

"And you will, but not right now. Now settle down, and let me and Jack get Ianto dry and warm." Tosh seemed to dismiss Owen and tugged on Jack's arm leading him into the bed room, where she'd laid a bunch of towels over the bed.

Jack dug in his heels. "Owen." He said, deferring to his lover. "What do I do? Does he need a hot bath, or-" he felt lost. Not sure what to do to fix this.

Owen shook his head, pushing himself up. "No. Tosh has an electric blanket. We've been keeping it warm."

Jack frowned but put Ianto down on the towel covered bed, and started to undress him. Tosh took a small hand towel and started to soak up the water in Ianto's hair. She skirted the small, blinking, shield generator and gave Jack a quizzical look. It was a testament to just how worried she was that she didn't ask about it.

Jack could feel his skin start to itch, uncomfortable with the thought of Tosh being so close to his guide. He loved Tosh, Christ, she was family, but right now all of his instincts were snarling not to let anyone but him self and Owen near his guide.

"Oh Ianto" Tosh murmured softly. "He's so cold Jack."

"Owen!" Jack yelled, covering Ianto's ears again. He needed Owen. He didn't know what to do by himself.

His lover was up, nearly before he called, and coming over, carrying his impromptu IV pole with him. He snarled loudly when Tosh tried to herd him back over to the couch.

"Mine! Back off!" Owen put the coat rack down next to the bed, and started helping Jack to undress Ianto, shooting Tosh glares over his shoulder.

Tosh frowned at the both of them.

"Sorry Toshiko...Sentinel thing. We're just a bit...defensive right now." Jack tried to explain, although he wanted to join Owen in the growling.

Tosh nodded and backed off. "Alright, I'll leave him to you two. But Owen, if you pass out again? I'm saying I told you so."

Jack's head snapped sharply over to Owen. "You passed out?!"

Owen scowled and refused to look up from Ianto . "Did not. Just got a little...woozy getting out of the shower."

"If I hadn't been there, you would have cracked your head open on the tiles."

"Shut up." Owen muttered, rubbing Ianto briskly with a towel to dry him off. "Get him as dry as possible." Owen continued gently, walking Jack through the steps in an attempt to reassure him. "Once we get him dry, I'll bandage up his feet, put some numbing agents on the skin. We'll get him tucked up under the blanket, share a little body heat." Owen gave him a weak, half hearted leer. Jack returned it with a tightlipped smile.

They worked together in silence for several minutes, before Owen tapped his finger gently against the green light at Ianto's temple. "What's this?"

"Shield. I'll explain later."

Owen nodded, trusting Jack to do what he needed to take care of their guide.

Jack focused his senses on Owen for a minute. "Owen, you should lay back down. Let me handle this. We're gonna need you up to full strength, when we wake Ianto up, and have to deal with...everything."

Owen firmly ignored him, picking up his coat rack and the first aid kit, moving to the end of the bed to clean and bandage Ianto's feet.

Jack sighed, and turned to raise an eyebrow at Tosh, who had stayed in the doorway, watching. Gwen slowly came over and joined her.

Tosh was paying more attention to Owen, and was about to speak up again, when her heart rate sped up. Jack whipped back around, catching Owen around the waist as he nearly toppled over.

"Ok, that's it, nap time for you."

Owen protested, shaking Jack off. "Let me finish here." Owen murmured, picking up some bandages with a shaky hand and gently wrapping Ianto's feet.

Jack obediently waited as Owen secured the bandage, and slid a hand up, brushing his thumb over Ianto's ankle, in the spot that, for reasons known only to Ianto, he liked having rubbed.

"All done." Owen motioned for Jack to lift Ianto up, and then twitched down the blankets. Jack tucked Ianto in quickly, not wanting any heat from the electric blanket to escape.

"Now." Jack ordered. "Lay down next to Ianto if you want, but you're laying down!" Gently Jack pushed him down. "He's freezing cold, and could use the body heat."

Owen obediently slipped under the covers, arranging himself carefully so that he could hold Ianto without tangling up his IV line.

"I'll make everyone some tea." Gwen muttered quietly, and backed back out of the bedroom.

Tosh moved closer, carefully keeping Jack between herself and Ianto, so she seemed less of a threat, and picked up a clean towel, tossing it over Jack's head. "Dry off, and change. The last thing we need is you getting sick now too." Her command was softened with a smile. "He'll need you warming the other side."

Owen, who was cuddling Ianto, trying to warm him up, scowled at Tosh, and buried his face in Ianto's neck. Jack heard, but didn't think Tosh caught the quiet mutter of "Mine." whispered into Ianto's neck.

Tosh gathered up the wet towels and left, sliding the doors shut to give them some privacy, as Jack stripped off his own wet trousers and shirt, before crawling into bed on the other side of Ianto.

He wrapped his arms around Ianto's cold body, fingertips brushing Owen's side. "Come on Ianto, Sweetheart. Come back to us..."


	31. Chapter 32

Gwen chewed on the end of her pencil, staring at the screen of her laptop and the email she was composing to Dr Sandburg. It had been a stroke of luck catching him online, and they had been playing email tag for the better part of an hour.

A quiet curse made her look up. Rhys shrugged apologetically, shaking out his hand, where apparently he had burned it, again. "Remind me to get Tosh some pots with insulated handles" he groused good naturedly, before going back to the soup.

Gwen smiled from her spot at Tosh's kitchen counter, and spent a moment watching Rhys cook. She had to be the luckiest woman on earth. A loving fiancé, who not only put up with her job and it's crazy hours, but also helped at the drop of a hat, and stayed to cook for her friends. Gwen had only meant to get Rhys to drop off the groceries. She was planning to cook herself, but she had gotten to involved in trying to get some answers out of Dr. Sandburg, that Rhys just started cutting the veggies and preparing the soup himself. Tosh had told Rhys to make himself at home, and set herself up at the counter beside Gwen, researching something.

She heard the bedroom door open and leaned over to see Jack peeking out of the bedroom. Jack looked around,then came out, closing the door after him, padding softly to the kitchen.

She gave him a small shaky smile. "Hi Jack. How are Ianto and Owen uh... doing?"

Jack scowled at Rhys, glanced back at her and scowled more. "Sleeping. We still can't get Ianto to wake up." He turned his attention to Rhys, subtly maneuvering himself to be between the other man and the bedroom door. "What are you still doing here? I thought you were going?"

Gwen bit down a smile. Not really the time to be smiling, although protective Jack was just too adorable. "He was. I was going to make you guys some soup, then I got the idea to try emailing Dr Sandburg, and Rhys offered to do the cooking."

Jack studied Rhys more, eyes narrowed, then snorted, turning his attention to back to Gwen. She decided to take that as a sign of, reluctant, approval.

Gwen glanced at Rhys and lowered her voice to barely a whisper. "This probably isn't the best time to ask, but should we be um..worried? Are we in danger, from Ianto's...um power?"

Jack rubbed his eyes, looking tired. He grabbed a handful of cherries from the fruit bowl and propped his hip against the counter. "You saw that thing on his temple?" He popped the small piece of fruit into his mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly. "It's a shield. Telepathy blocker, but a really primitive one. It blocks everything, me and Owen included. Ianto needs to feel us, that's why I haven't used it before. But right now I can't think of anything else, so at least we'll all be safe for the time being."

"It's a torture device." Tosh added, turning her laptop so Gwen could see a semantic of the device. "I looked it up in the database. It was used to keep prisoners from communicating, and in some races a sudden break in a telepathic link can cause pain. The…prisoners would do anything to get that link back"

Rhys' spine stiffened, and Jack winced again. Tosh continued. "I've trying to figure out a way to let you and Owen in, but I don't think it's possible."

Jack leaned against the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room, and sank down to the floor. He rested his face in his hands, looking the picture of exhaustion, and misery.

Gwen felt a stab of pain and concern and put down her pencil, walking over to rub Jack's shoulder. "We'll find a way though this Jack. We're all here for you. There has to be something we can do."

Gwen glanced up at Rhys and he slightly tilted his head towards the pot on the stove and raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Jack? You think you could eat some soup? Need to keep your strength up."

Jack seemed to consider the idea for a moment, until his head suddenly shot up. Cocking towards the bedroom, with the look Gwen knew meant he heard something. "Owen." He was up and back in the bedroom, like a shot.

Rhys looked after him for a second, holding a freshly labeled bowl of soup. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah, he must have just heard a noise. Owen must be awake or something."

"I didn't hear anything..." Rhys mutter quietly, turning back to the stove. " ...my soup doesn't look that bad... does it?"

---

Tosh slowly eased the bedroom door open and peeked in. The two sentinels were curled around their guide. She moved slowly, trying to not make any sudden moves or sounds, treating the situation like she was dealing with skittish wild animals. She wasn't sure if they were asleep or just standing guard.

"Jack? Jack, are you awake?" Tosh whispered while she moved towards Owen. She pulled the empty bag off the coat rack, and eased the doctor's arm out from under the blanket so she could detach the tubing from the port.

"Yup. How's Owen?" Jack's eyes didn't open, but he didn't sound surprised she was there, or sleepy.

Tosh dropped the used bag into the trash, and ran a scanner over Owen. "Looks good. Vitals are all better, blood pressure is almost back to normal. I think he's just sleeping it off now."

Jack frowned slightly from the other side of Ianto. "Tosh...scan Ianto. He's warm."

Tosh moved the scanner, leaning over Owen so she could run it over Ianto. Frowning, she put the scanner to the side and placed the back of her fingers against Ianto's forehead. "Hmm..."

Jack's eyes shot open. "What? What is it?!"

Next to them Owen shot up, inadvertently burying his face into Tosh's breasts before she could jump back. "What?!" Owen asked franticly. "What's wrong?!"

Tosh made quick soothing noises. "It's fine, Ianto just has a low grade fever. He's just getting a little sick. Not at all surprising, with how long he was out in the rain, freezing. And you said he's not been eating well."

Owen snatched the scanner out of Tosh's hand and ran it over Ianto him self.

"See? No need to panic. Just a little cold. He'll be fine. When he wakes up, we'll give him some cold meds and tea." Tosh gave them a little smile, hoping it would help if someone stayed positive. "Now that you're both awake, how about I bring you some soup? Especially you Owen, you need to keep having fluids." Tosh said gently.

Jack scowled. "Tosh, now is not the time for soup. Ianto is sick!"

"It's barely high enough to be called a fever yet, and we're all here to watch him. He'll be fine. You two still need to eat. Owen's still recovering from massive blood loss remember?" Tosh felt slightly bad over using Owen to manipulate Jack, but not that bad. From what Owen had told her, he had actually died. It wasn't something to take lightly.

Jack's eyes shot to Owen, filled with worry again. "She's right, you should eat something."

Owen glared at Tosh. "I'm fine. And if I have to eat, so does he."

"Fine, fine, Fine! We'll both have some fucking soup, ok?!" Jack snapped rubbing his face. "...are you isure/i Ianto's ok?"

"Yes Jack. He's fine." Tosh said patiently. "I'll go get you that soup now. ...and a few bottles of water for you, Owen. Remember to keep drinking."

Owen scowled at Tosh, and then turned back to stare intently at Ianto, as if he could see into Ianto and find and fix what was wrong with him. He reached out, brushing his fingers through Ianto's hair.

Jack looked up at Tosh, with pleading eyes. "I don't supposed you've thought of anything ? Anything at all?"

Tosh bit her lip, thinking. Her mind drifted back, thinking about all the other times Ianto had zoned, during meditation, or if some thought or emotion had taken him by surprise. "I- uh I assume you've tried everything that's worked in the past, right?" That usually meant talking him out of it, but they had had some luck with shocking him with a sudden noise, smell, or even one of his sentinels yelping in pain from a smashed finger or stubbed toe.

"I'm sorry Jack...I don't know." Tosh winced when she tasted blood, and stopped biting her lip. "Maybe....try stimulating his senses? Smelling salts, taste, something like that? I- I just wish I could think of something Jack. Ianto's my best friend. I want him back as much as you two do."

Jack and Owen exchanged looks, and Owen held out his hand towards Tosh, wiggling his fingers in a 'come here' motion.

Tosh stepped closer and Owen grabbed her hand pulling her down to sit on the edge of the bed. "Look, I'm sorry about the attitude I've had. I just... I hate being out of commission, and I'm worried sick about Ianto. But I shouldn't have been taking it out on you. You're doing everything you can to help, and my treating you like shit isn't helping."

Tosh's eyes widened. Owen Harper was not known for apologies.

Jack reached over and held Tosh's hand. "Thank you for all the help, taking care of Owen, letting us stay here. I don't know what we would have done without you."

Tosh smiled and wiped at her eyes. "You're my friends. My family. I couldn't not help you."

They all exchanges shaky smiles.

Owen flopped back down in the bed, releasing Tosh's hand to rub his eyes. "So...smelling salts? Got any on you? Can't hurt to try...well hurt him. I might throw up."

Tosh stood and moved over to her dresser, she came back with a small bottle. "I have essential oils?"

"Like Owen said, can't hurt to try. Owen, hold you breath, turn your sense of smell all the way down, or something." Jack told him, hope coloring his voice. He put one hand over Ianto's chest.

Tosh leaned over Owen, opening the bottle and waving it under Ianto's nose. All three of them held their breath waiting.

Nothing.

On impulse, Tosh reached over pinching Jack's side. Jack yelped.

Ianto still didn't move.

Tosh looked crushed and pulled back, closing the bottle, and dropping it on the night table. "I'm sorry..."

"Not your fault." Owen said quietly.

Tosh stroked her fingers though Ianto's hair lightly. "I know it was a stretch, but I hoped-" Tosh wiped at her eyes again.

Owen wrapped an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder lightly. "Hey, it was a try. Maybe the next idea will work. Maybe we can try feeding him something..." Owen smirked lightly. "Maybe I'll try threatening him with my coffee."

Tosh laughed and stood up. "I'll go get you your soup and water, and get back to researching. There has to be something." She waited until they settled down again, Jack leaning in to whisper something in Ianto's ear before leaving.

Tosh closed the door again as she left the room, wishing there was something more she could do to help them.


	32. Chapter 33

"Jack?! Owen?! Lion?! Wolverine?! Anybody?!" Ianto ran though the woods, desperately calling for his lovers. The woods were dark and cold, dead leaves crunching under his feet. There was no one except for him and Dog.

He couldn't feel them. That had never, since this whole thing started, ever happened before. When he was as deep as he could go into his mind, he could always feel the tiny string of connection between them. He could tell where they were when he was sleeping. Even the few times he had been unconscious, Jack and Owen had been there.

But now he was alone. His spirit guide seemed as panicked as he was. The dog ran next to him, howling, sounding pained.

They weren't there. They were gone. Jack and Owen were gone...oh god, he'd killed Owen. He remembered Owen laying there, covered in blood. Jack was covered in blood too. Jack had been alive. Hadn't he?

"JACK!" Ianto reached out, feeling nothing. Jack would have answered. Even if he hated Ianto for what he had done, he still would have answered.

Jack was dead. Jack and Owen were dead, and it was his fault.

Ianto stumbled but picked himself up, still running, unable to stop. his breaths were coming in large desperate gulps, but he felt as if he were drowning, suffocating.

Something....something was there. Not the wolverine, or lion, or Jack or Owen....but something. It was like being in a horror movie. Something he couldn't see, chasing him. It was a wave of darkness in his mind, steadily gaining.

It was the thing from the bubble. He didn't know how he knew it, but he knew that was it. He had seen it before, a glimpse over his shoulder when he had been attacked…no when he had attacked. The bubble that imprisoned it had disappeared when he killed Owen.

"Please! Just leave me alone!" Ianto called out. "Stay away! Go back into your bubble, and let me go back to Owen and Jack!" Ianto flinched violently. "...die. Oh just kill me already if you're going to do it, and send me into the dark with Jack and Owen!" Ianto sobbed, tripping over his own feet, landing hard against a rock that sprang into his path. Shakily, he pulled himself back up

---

The swamp lion and wolverine leaned over Ianto whimpering. They couldn't get to him, and they didn't like it. Wolverine clawed at the covers over Ianto's chest, growling softly, while Lion swept his purple tentacles carefully over Ianto's face.

Jack wrapped his arms around the wolverine, hugging it. On Ianto's other side, Owen buried his fingers into the lion's pink fur.

---

Ianto's vision swam, exhaustion overwhelming him. He stumbled, the environment changing around him, as he fell towards the ground, almost in slow motion. He blinked up dazedly, finding him self back at the lake he'd taken Owen to...was it just days ago? It felt like years.

He stared up into the peaceful, gray, sky, the...thing that was chasing him was gone, for now at least. His dog collapsed down next to him, whimpering softly.

Ianto lay there, letting his heart gallop in his chest as he took in gulps of cool, sweet air. The sky continued to spin.

Jack and Owen were dead.

He pushed him self to a to his feet, still gasping for air from the run, his heart feeling like it would explode. He stared at the scene in front of him, willing a change in the environment. Beneath his and Owen's tree, a large Gothic mausoleum formed. He walked forward, followed by the large black dog, stepping into the small building, through an iron gate, and stained glass windows appeared, splashing across two stone caskets.

Jack would like this. He liked old, ornate things, thought they were romantic.

Ianto was being morbid. He tried to will the oppressive monument away, but it stayed stubbornly realistic. Rain began to gently pelt the windows.

Ianto studied the caskets, Images of Jack and Owen rose out of the stone, like effigies of fallen knights. He shook his head and the figures sunk back below the surface.

Dog whined and pressed his nose to the caskets. At the foot of each casket Lion and Wolverine appeared in stone, curled up as if asleep. Ianto smiled sadly, reaching out to stroke behind their cold granite ears.

He moved on, and brought a small brass plaque into being on the far wall.

**Here lies Captain Jack Harkness and Doctor Owen Harper, beloved companions.**

They saved the world a lot.

Owen would appreciate the reference

Dog nudged him and Ianto smiled again. A line added itself to the bottom.

_**Lion and Wolverine helped.**_

"What are we going to do?" Ianto asked. "I- I killed the loves of my life, and now I'm trapped in my own mind."

Ianto closed his eyes trying to leave, but it seemed that nothing existed anymore outside of the forest. The was nothing, no one, to call him back.

"With a monster chasing me, no less." Ianto continued. "And it doesn't even have the decency to kill me, just chase me till I drop."

The Dog whined, nuzzling Ianto's side.

Ianto stumbled, despite the fact that he was standing still, and slumped against Owen's crypt, tear streaming from his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so sorry. I love you both so much." As exhaustion and grief rolled over Ianto and he lost all semblance of control, clinging to the cold stone of the crypt and sobbing.


	33. Chapter 34

Jack's eyes widened and he reached over to poke Owen, who had his face buried in the lions neck. "Owen. Look."

Ianto, still and unresponsive as ever, had tears running down his face.

"He's...crying?" Jack could hear the surge of hope in Owen's voice.

"He's...there. It's something right? A sign he's still in there?"

Owen leaned down and kissed Ianto, running his hand though his hair. "We're here, Yan. Come back to us. Open those pretty eyes, and yell at me for calling you pretty."

Jack leaned down too, and wiped Ianto's tears away. "Please wake up... We miss you. We need you, Ianto. Come back to us sweetheart, we're right here."

---

Everyone gathered in Tosh's living room, Jack and Owen curled up on the couch, Tosh and Gwen taking the chairs. Jack lifted his arm letting his lover curl in tighter. It had been a fight to get him to even leave Ianto's room.

So far it had been two days since Ianto had turned runner, and gone into his…coma. Owen had been up nearly the entire time tending to Ianto, and was exhausted.

"Alright," Jack said, when it looked like no one else was going to speak. "So here's what we have. Ianto's fever is down, but he's still out of it. There hasn't been any changes, or signs of him waking up so far."

"He cries." Gwen offered.

"But that's it. He doesn't move, or shift. Even his heart rate stays the same. I have an idea, but...well you might not like it." Jack told them.

The team looked at him expectantly.

Jack ran his free hand though his hair, taking a deep breath. "Alright, so..my plan is for you guys to leave, I take the shield off and try to go into Ianto's mind and-"

As he expected, they did not approve.

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?!" Owen interrupted with a bellow, bolting up, away from his side to glare daggers as him.

Tosh and Gwen weren't taking it much better.

"Jack, that is the worst plan you've ever had, and that's saying something!" Gwen snapped, standing to glower down at him better.

"This is a terrible idea!" Tosh added.

Jack winced and rubbed at his ears, then glared back at his team. "Well do any of you have any other ideas? Anything better? At all? There's been no change. He's unresponsive, Owen's had to put in a IV to keep him hydrated. What else are we going to do? Let him stay a vegetable? Just let him wither and die?!"

Owen's breathing grew more shallow, his heart rate was spiking, and Jack could feel the tension rolling off him. "Jack, it's bad enough what's happening with Ianto, I can _not _handle something happening to you too!"

"Owen, I'm immortal. I came back the last time."

"Yeah, and what happens if he doesn't explode your head, just trap you in his mind with him, so I'm stuck with two comatose lovers?!"

Owen's breathing became more labored. Panic attack, Jack thought distantly.

Jack winced. "I- I don't think that's going to happen."

"And what if it does? You said it your self Jack. You're immortal." Tosh said quietly. Jack could see she didn't want to be the one playing devil's advocate, but felt he needed to hear this. "Think about it. Decades, centuries, thousands, millions, billions, of years as a ...vegetable. You want to be 'that old weird guy', we pass down to our kids, and their kids, and theirs, for the rest of life in the universe?"

"That's just going to have to be a risk I'm willing to take. I've always wanted to be an heirloom." The joke fell flat. Jack grabbed Owen's hand. "Owen, could you live with your self, could you live with _me_, if we don't do everything possible to help Ianto?"

Owen's breathing and heart rate got worse and Jack felt a stab of worry as he pulled Owen close and held him tightly.

"Jack...please don't- don't do this to me. Ianto wouldn't want you to risk it, and I can't lose both of you at the same time!"

"Owen don't be so negative. You won't lose either of us. I'm going to go in there, find him and bring him back to you. We're both going to be fine. _All _of us will be fine. Now breathe. Calm down."

Owen let out a noise, half laugh, half sob and buried his face in Jack's chest, taking several deep breaths. "Not like anything I can say will stop you, will it? You never listen to anyone once you've made up your mind!"

Jack held him tightly. "Owen...I don't want to do something you really hate, or something Ianto would hate, but- Owen it's _Ianto_!" Jack pulled Owen around and looked him in the eye. "If you were in my position would you do any different? If you thought you could help Ianto, or me, would you even hesitate to do so?"

Owen sighed and shook his head. "You know what the answer is. I wouldn't be able to not help you. If you really think this is the right decision..."

Jack glanced up startled, when Tosh appeared over them, holding out a glass of alcohol. He had been so focused on Owen he didn't even notice her leave and come back. He gave her a quick smile of thanks and took the glass, coaxing it into Owen's hand, and up to his mouth to get him to sip

"Oh sure, bribe me into complying with alcohol...you know my weaknesses." Owen said with a small laugh, and Jack was relieved his breathing and heart sounded closer to normal.

"Yup. That's me. Evil manipulator. Next thing you know I'll be getting you drunk to have my wicked way with you."

"Oh like you've ever had to work that hard to get me into bed...shower, chair, desk, wall..." Owen snorted a laugh at Tosh's expression then sobered. "So when are we gonna do this?"

"Soon. I'm thinking today. As soon as we can make sure no one is in the building, who might get hurt if anything goes...wrong."

Jack watched Owen closely, hearing focused intently on him as Owen took a few deep breaths holding each for a few seconds before letting it out.

Owen stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds then looked at Tosh and Gwen. "Can you two handle clearing the area? I want to stay with Jack and Ianto for as long as possible incase... " he trailed off, swallowing convulsively.

Tosh and Gwen nodded, faces serious, not any happier with this plan, but willing to support Jack and Owen when they needed it.

"Alright. So...lets get started." Jack said, standing, pulling Owen up with him.

They all looked at each other for a few seconds before Jack and Owen headed back into the bedroom with Ianto, and Gwen and Tosh set about clearing out the building.

Jack hoped he was making the right decision.

---

Owen allowed himself to be led over to Tosh's bed, and sat down next to Ianto. He sunk into Jack's arms letting out small sigh, breathing in his lover's scent. This could possibly be the last time he was ever with the two men he loved.

Owen turned in Jack's arms, and grabbed his head, letting his worry, anger and fear all translate into a savage kiss. If these were his last moments with Jack, he was going to take advantage of them, for all he was worth.

Jack made a startled noise, but kissed back. Owen ground his hips involuntarily against Jack's, making both of them groan.

"Owen... what-?" Jack managed to gasp out between kisses, even as Owen's hands started working on Jack's fly.

"I could lose you. I know you want me to be positive, but I could. I could lose you both, dammit! I just fucking need you, Jack!"

Jack kissed him again, hands dragging though Owen's hair, and down his neck and back, all the way down to his arse.

Owen started pulling Jack's shirt off and Jack hesitated, looking over at Ianto. "Owen..."

Owen looked over at Ianto too, and sighed slumping down on top of Jack. "You're right."

"I know we used to have a lot of sex while Ianto was pretty much in the same state in the bed next to us," Jack paused, giving Ianto a fond look, and Owen felt himself smile at the memories. "-but right now..."

Owen nodded and buried his face in Jack's neck.

Jack's arms came up around Owen holding him tightly. Owen snaked a hand out , pulling Ianto's limp hand over to rest on his chest, between their hearts, and let Jack hold him.


	34. Chapter 35

Jack leaned over Ianto, pressing a kiss to his forehead. The skin there was still just a little too warm, and Ianto was much too still. With a sigh Jack slid his fingernail under the small glowing shield, prying it away from Ianto's temple.

"Don't worry sweetheart. I'm coming for you." Jack whispered, dropping another kiss to the reddened skin where the shield had been, before stretching out next to Ianto, and closing his eyes, trying to slow his breathing and remember the meditation lessons his lover had given him.

One moment he was laying on the bed next to Ianto, slowly going though the motions to meditate, trying to relax despite the weirdness of doing this without Owen's calming heartbeat or Ianto's voice guiding him, the next he was standing on soft grass, next to a lake with his lion leaning against his leg. He remembered this place... it was one of the places Ianto took them when they were tired or upset. He had always found it comforting.

Although, he had to admit, the huge mausoleum was new. And slightly disturbing. Kind of romantic, but definitely out of place. He approached it carefully, senses going on the alert.

Licking his lips, Jack took a breath before pushing the iron gate open, and stepping inside. The gate slid smoothly, and Jack let his shoulders relax. He was expecting an ominous, scary movie sound effect. Peering around the dark room his eyes adjusted quickly.

His heart skipped a beat and started racing when he saw Ianto curled up around his large black dog, on a pile of straw on the floor, between two large stone boxes. Jack's eyes flicked to the stone animals curled on top of the boxes. Scratch that, two large stone coffins. No prizes on guessing who they were for.

The lion let out an audible squee of joy, bouncing from paw to paw and Jack reached out and snatch it back by a tentacle before the animal could pounce. The only thing keeping Jack from from panicking and doing the same, was the slow, steady heartbeat, letting him know Ianto was alive, if deeply asleep.

"Stop that. You'll scare him." Jack scolded quietly. The lion made a rude noise, but sat down on it's haunches, tentacles twitching anxiously.

Jack slowly crouched down studying his lover. Ianto was thin and pale, with dark smudges around his eyes and he was covered with what looked like Jack's greatcoat, with Owen's favorite lab coat buttons were decorating the collar. As Jack watched Ianto shifted, burrowing further into the makeshift blanket.

Jack reached out and stroked his hand though Ianto's hair lightly as he spoke to his sleeping lover. "Ianto? Sweetheart." He tried to keep his voice light. "It's time to wake up now, Ianto."

Ianto grumbled and rolled over, and Jack felt a laugh bubble up in the back of his throat.

"Iaaanto" he singsonged, only to be with a decidedly grumpy mutter as Ianto pulled the coat over his head.

With a snort, the swamp lion shoved past Jack and pounced directly on to Ianto's chest.

Ianto's eyes popped open and he rocketed up, sending the lion rolling to the side. The large pink animal took the unseating in stride, turning to pounce the sleeping dog by Ianto's side.

The young Welshman blinked, staring blankly at Jack until his tired mind caught up with his body.

"...Jack?! Lion?! OH! Oh my god! You- you're here! You're alive!" Ianto flung him self onto Jack, clutching him tightly.

Jack hugged him tightly, slowly rocking bath and forth, running his hands everywhere he could reach, making sure Ianto was okay. The lion was frantically petting Ianto and the dog, purring loudly.

Ianto suddenly started ripping Jack's clothes off, mouth covering his with a crushing, desperate kiss. "Oh god! Jack, you look so real. You feel- I can't believe."

Jack moaned, pulling at Ianto's clothes, desperately needing skin on skin contact. Not exactly how he had planned a reunion, but who was he to complain?

Ianto thrust against Jack, breath coming in gasps, heart racing. "Jack! Oh god, Jack! Need you! Please, I need you now!" he grabbed Jack's hand, forcefully shoving it southwards.

Jack unzipped Ianto's trousers, working his hand inside, and wrapped around his cock, pumping steadily while he kissed Ianto, slowly nibbling his way down to suck on the pulse point on his throat.

"Oh _god _yes Jack!" Ianto panted, then suddenly stiffed and pulled back and stared at Jack in shock. "You're real! You're really here! You're not- Thought I had – kept trying to create-" Ianto stumbled over his words, unable to string together a full sentence. He jerked back suddenly. "OWEN! What about Owen?! He's dead!"

Jack immediately stopped what he was doing and wrapped his free hand behind Ianto's neck, pulling him back. "Shh, shh it's okay. He's fine.'

He pulled Ianto's head down, resting it against his shoulder, and let his hand slide down, rubbing large circles against Ianto's back. "He's fine, sweetheart. He's fine. He's out in the real world waiting for us to come back. He's been missing you like crazy you know. We both have. We've been going insane."

"You- you're okay... you're both okay. I can't believe you're still alive after all this time..." Ianto burrowed down into Jack, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist.

"All this- Ianto it's been two days. Two hellish days, but still two days."

"What? No! it's been months! I've been here for months, trapped! I can't get out, I- I couldn't feel you or Owen. I thought you were dead....I knew you were dead!" what little bit of calm Jack had managed to project vanished and Ianto started to shake.

"I saw you both covered in blood dead! And- dead then I was here. No- no I wasn't here, I was in the forest. Running. Something- something was casing me and I was running so fast, and hard, but I couldn't get away, and I was so scared and I wanted you and Owen, but you were dead, and I just wanted it to be over! And then I was here..."

"Oh Ianto..." Jack whispered gently, tightening his grip on his young lover. "It's okay." He repeated. "I'm here. I'm fine, Owen's fine. We're going to leave here, and go back into the world and we'll all be okay."

Ianto struggled a little.

"No, no, no! You were both dead! I saw you! And the monster! There was a monster! But for some reason it didn't follow me here, and oh god I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kill you! I love you! I'd never hurt you on purpose! And I made you this mausoleum, but it's not enough, nothing is enough to make up for what I did, and you can never forgive me!"

Jack hugged him tighter, rubbing his back. "Ianto, it's not your fault. Shh. It's not your fault. It's my fault. I'm the one who poked you, and made you freak out, none of this would have happened. Owen wouldn't have gotten...hurt."

Ianto made a low keening noise. "Owen!"

"He's fine! Fine! I bought him back. He's okay. Alright, he's tired right now, and stressed out, worrying about you, but he's alive." Jack rocked Ianto, keeping his movements slow, trying to calm him down again. "Breathe Ianto. You need to breathe. Calm down. Come on."

"Owen! Owen! I want Owen!" Ianto sobbed, clinging to Jack's shirt.

"Oh sweetheart, shhh. You'll see Owen soon. We just need you to wake up..."

Ianto sniffled and and hiccuped burying his face in Jack's chest. "Can't. I tried to when I first got pulled in here, but I can't. I've tried, every day, and I just can't. The – the monster. I tried Jack, I really did."

"Yan...you're exhausted and I woke you up. Why don't we get some sleep, and we can talk about this in the morning okay? Let you sleep, calm down. We'll figure out a way to get you out of here."

"Owen..."

"Shh..come on, he's okay." Jack repeated. Maybe if he distracted Ianto, got him to calm down a little. Did Ianto have a routine here?

"Come on. Let's go to bed. Where's your house?"

"House?"

"Flat? Cottage? ...hotel room? You know, where you've been living all the months you've been here?"

"....I live here."

"Oh _Ianto_! God..." Jack groaned looking around.

"What?"

"It's a...grave!"

"...it's cosy." Ianto defended, with a harsh laugh, that was still half a sob.

Jack sighed and hugged Ianto. "Alright, but how about we make a bed at least for the night?"

"...but my straw..."

Jack kissed Ianto on the top of the head, while tucking him back into his clothes and zipping his trousers. he gently pulled him down to the straw, wrapping him self around his trembling lover and pulling the coat over both of them. "The straw is great. I've missed sleeping in straw, haven't done in decades."

Ianto hummed slightly and closed his eyes for a moment, and suddenly the straw was covered with a sheet, and had a small pile of pillows.

"Thank you." Jack said with a smile, and kissed Ianto lightly, then yelped, startled when suddenly Ianto shoved him down and went at him again.,

"Oh god Jack, you're real."

Jack moaned as suddenly his clothes were gone, and Ianto was doing that thing with his tongue, and then his brain forgot how to function.

When Jack's neurons started firing again, Ianto was sucking on his neck and slowly grinding against his leg. Jack flipped him over, and proceeded to return the favor.

It didn't, couldn't, last very long. They were both starved for contact. Once they were both sated Jack dropped down next to Ianto, pulling him in tightly. With a tired sigh Ianto wrinkled his brow, creating a thick blanket, draped over their tangled bodies.

Ianto clung on to Jack tightly and the two spirit guides reappeared from behind one of the crypts looking distinctly happy, settling in with their humans. Lion flopped on top of Ianto, while Dog curled up next to Jack.

"You're real?" Ianto asked, voice soft with exhaustion and worry.

"I'm real Ianto. I promise, I'm real."

It took a little time, but eventually they all drifted off to sleep.


	35. Chapter 36

Jack rolled over on to his back, eyes still firmly closed, as he sensed Ianto's Dog coming up to stand over them. Maybe if he ignored him…. The straw was surprisingly comfortable and Ianto was warm against his side.

The spirit guide let out an annoyed chuff, and Jack heard a distinctly wet thud next to his ear.

Intrigued, Jack cracked opened one eye, only to be met with the lifeless gaze of a small white rabbit.

Jack yelped, flying back, climbing over Ianto in his haste, until he was pressed against his own crypt.

"What?! What?!" Ianto cried, waking up, looking around wildly, and clutching on to Jack's arm.

Jack stared in confused, only half awake disbelief as the dog rolled his eyes, then turned and wagged his tail at Ianto, nudging at the rabbit he'd just dropped on Jack's pillow.

A questioning 'mrowr' was the only warning Jack received before a small pile of fish landed in his lap.

He jumped again, glaring up at the smug swamp lion perched on top of the crypt, one fish still clutched in an upraised tentacle. The lion paused for the barest moment, then dropped the last fish directly onto Jack's nose.

Ianto grinned and patted the straw next to him. The lion immediately jumped down to nuzzle the young man affectionately. Ianto scratched the dog and lion behind the ears. "Good boys!" he praised.

"...what?!" Jack just stared in confusion, and rubbed his eyes.

"They bought us some breakfast."

Jack gave Ianto a look, and reached out, poking the dead rabbit with his toe. "Does this happen often?"

"Dog likes to hunt. It keeps him from being bored"

The large animal snorted, and Ianto sighed. "And he's nearly as bad as Owen about getting me to eat."

Jack snickered and brushed the fish out of his lap, then wrapped him self around Ianto. "Hmm... so did you sleep well?"

"Better then I have in months."

"That's good." Jack nuzzled Ianto's neck, nipping the soft skin there. Ianto arched up into his touch.

"We could …" Jack let one hand trail down, brushing his fingers against the sensitive spot on Ianto's hip. "Celebrate." He finished with a leer.

Ianto's reply was muffled against pink fur as the lion wedged himself between the two men, waving a discarded fish in Ianto's face.

Ianto laughed and wiggled out of Jack's grip. "I have to make breakfast! If you keep that up, I'll never get anything done!"

Jack pouted. "Aww, but Ianto..."

The lion slapped a tentacle over Jack's mouth and Ianto laughed again.

"Shush. You can grope me after I cook breakfast. I think the guides are hungry." Ianto scolded, while he wriggled into a pair of jeans, reaching under a pile of straw and pulling out another pair for Jack. He gathered up the bodies and made his way to the campfire ring.

Ianto pulled some impossibly large knives from his back pocket and started cleaning and preparing the rabbit.

Jack watched for a minute, impressed by Ianto's obvious skill. That was new. "Need any help?"

Ianto narrowed his eyes at Jack. "Do you know how?"

"Ianto, I'm 170 years old."

"And do you know how to prepare rabbit and fish?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes I do."

"Alright then." Ianto handed him the pile of fish and another knife.

Jack worked quietly with Ianto for awhile before he spoke again. "So this is what you've been doing all this time?"

Ianto looked over. "Cook? No I don't cook all day. Just at meal times."

Jack waves his hand, and the knife around. "I mean- catch and skin and cook... I mean this is all...fantasy right? Couldn't you just imagine a plate of food?"

Ianto shrugged. "It gives me something to do. And makes dog feel useful ...and stop waving that around before you put someone's eye out."

Jack put the knife down and continued to watch Ianto. He couldn't believe his camping-hating, archive-loving partner was choosing to live like this, instead of, say, a pleasure palace, with hot naked slave boys and girls waiting on him hand and foot.

At the very least a library or something!

Jack glanced back at the mausoleum. Ianto had chosen to stay with them. He tore his mind from that train of thought, and forced a grin.

"At least tell me you have a closet full of bunny skin loin cloths around here somewhere."

"Jack!" Ianto laughed, building up a small fire. "Actually," he admitted. "I tried. Figured I could make a bag or something. It wasn't very impressive."

The captain handed over the dressed fish. "You mean there's something that Ianto Jones isn't good at?" he asked, in mock disbelief.

"Hey! Keep that up and you'll never find out how good I've become at cooking rabbit."

Soon the smell of cooking food was drifting through the small clearing, and Ianto was handing him a plate of food and a fork. A leather mug of dark beer appeared next to Jack, and he raised an eyebrow.

Ianto shrugged. "That's what they drink in Robin Hood films. Its quite good once you get used to it." The mug emptied, and refilled with coffee.

Ianto brought his plate over, leaning in against Jack as they ate. Jack noticed that his young lover was feeding the guides more off of his plate than he was actually eating himself, but didn't say anything. He'd save the lectures for the real world.

After eating Jack eyed Ianto carefully. "So, are you ready to find a way to get out of here and go home?" Not that he didn't enjoy playing house, but it was all a little too surreal for his taste. Ianto was handling it all a bit too well, as if he didn't really believe that Jack had really found him, and was having breakfast with a hallucination.

"Home?" Ianto asked wistfully.

"Yep. Well technically Tosh's, but close enough."

Ianto laughed and climbed into Jack's arms and kissed him. "God Jack, I can't believe this is happening! You're really here, You and Owen are alive, and I'm going to get home..."

"That's right. We're gonna go home, and everything will be okay."

Ianto tensed. "But it won't. I still have this...curse. I could hurt you and Owen again, or someone else!"

Jack winced and hugged him tighter. "We- we'll figure something out. ...dials! Yes um. dial back the –" Jack paused, unsure what to call Ianto's unique power. "Like Owen and I dial back our senses. Have you tried that?"

Ianto rubbed his face. "No. I didn't want to think about it, let alone tinker with it. Could that work?"

"I don't know, Ianto... you know we've all been flying by the seat of our pants with all this. Why not try envisioning a dial?"

Ianto pushed him self up, and walked toward the edge of the clearing. Jack blinked at the sudden shift and started to follow.

Ianto was standing in front of a tree, looking at a large dial. Jack stopped and stared. Ok.... Ianto was taking him literally. It was an ornate gold dial. A bit steampunkish perhaps, but whatever worked.

The dog trotted past Jack, trailed by the lion. They both sat at Ianto's feet, looking up expectantly.

Ianto ignored him, and frowned at the brass plaque above the dial. The words shifted and melted, unsure of themselves. 'Murderer' surfaced briefly, as did 'Pain'. It cycled through a series of Welsh words, something suspiciously alien, or maybe russian, and a splatter of blood before finally settling on 'Psychic Ability'.

Ianto reached out, turning the dial all the way down. He then grit his teeth and snapped if off.

"IANTO! What?! What the hell did you just do?!" Jack yelled, rushing over to him, and caught Ianto around the waist to keep him from falling over.

Ianto let the dial fall from his hands, and the lion scooped it up, franticly trying to jam it back onto the broken knob protruding from the tree.

"Fixed it." Ianto said simply. "Owen- Owen can come here now, without me hurting him. Go. Go get him? Please?"

Jack ran his hands over Ianto, cupping his face. "Are you okay? Ianto!"

"I'm fine Jack. I fixed it."

"God Ianto, you just broke something in your brain!"

"Nothing important. Please? I want Owen."

"Sweetheart, I thought the point of this was to get out of here?"

"...I can't. I just...I can't. I know I can't. It'll come after me. Get, Owen? Please?"

Jack shook head head and sighed. "Alright, alright, I'll go get Owen."

Despite Ianto's protests that he was fine, Jack scooped him up, carrying him back into the mausoleum and the straw bed.

As soon as Jack laid Ianto down, the large dog was on top of ianto, examining him with nudges from his cold nose.

"It's gonna take some times. I have to talk to everyone, and explain everything, and time travels differently, so it might be a while, for you okay?"

Ianto nodded, pulling the imagined great coat over himself "I know, just...just go?"

Jack kissed Ianto deeply and wrapped the coat more closely around him. He turned and whistled, calling the swamp lion. The lion came running, still clutching the broken dial.

"You stay with Ianto. Keep him out of trouble."

The lion nodded franticly, snuggling into Ianto and wrapping his tentacles tightly around the young man's waist.

Jack shook his head. He kissed Ianto and gently knocked foreheads, then closed his eyes, willing him self back to his body.

---


	36. Chapter 37

Eyes fluttering open, Jack pulled in a deep breath, and slowly looked over at Ianto's motionless form. Heartbeat still at it's slow state, breathing deep and even. Jack's own chest rose and fell in time with his lover's. He lay their, feeling heavy and tired, listening to their breathing, falling out of synch.

Jack sighed and reached over to stroke Ianto's face.

Jack took a few long minutes to stretch and let him self wake up a bit, getting his blood moving before he sat up, as to avoid falling over from a head rush. Ianto always gave him a look of bemused annoyance when he did that, accusing him and Owen of stumbling around like two newborn calves.

Owen.

Jack sat up quickly, grabbed his bluetooth from the night table, and slipped it on calling his absent lover. He gripped the edge of the bed tightly until the wave of dizziness passed.

"Jack?! What happened? How's Ianto?! God dammit, Put Ianto on!" Owen's voice demanded over the phone, loud and anxious.

"Owen."

The man on the line ignored him, firing off more questions.

"Owen. Owen, OWEN! Calm down! Get Tosh and Gwen and come back. I have some things to tell you, and I don't want to do it over the phone."

The connection was silent for a long moment.

"....Ianto's dead isn't he? Oh god! He's dead, and you don't want to tell me!" Even over the phone Jack could hear Owen's heart rate spike, and he winced, realizing how he made it sound.

"Owen! No! Ianto's not dead! He's okay! He's okay. Just come back to the flat, and I'll tell you everything."

"You swear?! You swear he's alive?! If you're fucking..."

"Owen, I swear on… on Ianto's coffee machine , that he is alive. Come over here and see for your self. ...uh…" Jack paused. "Don't drive. Let Gwen do it."

"...I can't anyway, I'm kinda doped up."

"What?"

"Tosh didn't want me sneaking back there to watch you, so she sedated me. I just woke up. Feel kind of....floaty."

"Oh Owen...are you okay? How long was I meditating?"

"Yeah...I think. Could use some of Ianto's coffee, but I'm alright. Hour tops. I think. We're on our way now,"

Owen sounded befuddled, trying to remember all the questions that needed answering.

"We'll be there in a couple minutes. Gwen for fuck's sake, the speed limit's just a suggestion, go faster."

"Kay. I love you. See you when you get here." Jack disconnected the phone and flopped down next to Ianto again, deciding that they really needed to start medicating Owen before he had a heart attack. He nuzzled into Ianto's neck, trying to calm down again himself.

"You're worrying him sweetheart." he whispered.

-

Owen wrapped his arms around himself, pacing the living room, eyes flicking over to Jack, sitting on the couch, watching him worriedly.

It was just him and Jack right now. They'd barely gotten in the flat, when Tosh's PDA alerted her to a weevil sighting. There was no way in hell either of them were leaving, so Tosh and Gwen took off to check it out.

"So...what you're telling me is, for some reason Ianto can't get out of his own mind."

"Right."

"Thinks something is in the woods, and won't let him out of the clearing."

"Yep."

"Has been living on top of our graves f-"

"Beside them." Jack corrected him.

Owen rolled his eyes. "-for what has been months for him, and oh yeah! Has now given him self brain damage?!"

"....that's about it, yeah..."

Owen collapsed on to the couch next to Jack. "Bloody, fucking wonderful."

"So you understand right? Ianto wants me to bring you back to him. He misses you. Maybe if you see it you can help me figure something out."

Owen rubbed his eyes. "Yeah. Fuck, I want to see him so bad, Jack. I get it..so I just...go in there?"

"Worked for me. I can go in first. Give you something to anchor to." They had found out that transitioning between worlds was easier when one of them was already there. Ianto could usually do it on his own, but Jack and Owen would often use their young lover to pull themselves into or out of meditation.

"Alright. Let's get this over with, so I can drag his fucking arse out of there and back home already!"

Jack pulled Owen into a kiss and stroked his hair. "That's my boy. Are you ready for this? Are you going to be able to relax? You've been really, _really _stressed the last few days." Owen saw Jack's eyes flick down to his chest, and figured his was obsessing on his vitals again.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. I don't know why you bitch so much, dying's a piece of cake."

Jack laughed.

Owen scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Not like I have a choice. I have to, to get to Ianto. That's all the matters right now."


	37. Chapter 38

Ianto hugged his knees to his chest, sitting in the door way of the mausoleum. He was wrapped only in Jack's coat. He knew he should get up, fix breakfast for the guides. Lion refused to eat raw fish. Ianto hadn't done much more than move between the door and his straw bed in the last few days.

Jack would come back. He would. He promised he'd come back, and bring Owen.

....unless it was all a dream. It could have been a dream. Oh dear god, what if it was a dream?! What if Jack and Owen really were dead, and the other day was just him losing what little hold he had left on his mind?!

Jack's lion head butted his shoulder roughly, nearly tipping him over on his side, and wrapped his tentacles around him in a hug. His dog nuzzled into his other side. Ianto slowly ran his hand though the lion's soft pink fur. If he was losing his mind, he was really, really good at it. He allowed Jack's guide to rock him.

Across the clearing, movement made all of them look up and Ianto's heart leapt when he saw Jack appear...then fell when he didn't see Owen. Owen was dead. Jack was wrong, and Owen was dead and gone, and Jack was back to tell him. Oh God Owen! Ianto buried his face in the lion's neck, breath coming in short, ragged gasps as he began to sob.

He heard a rush of noise and felt a warm hand on his bare shoulder where the coat had slid down. he tensed waiting to hear 'I'm sorry, Ianto. I'm so, so sorry. He's gone.' in Jack's deep American accent.

Instead he heard Owen's playful English voice. "Oi, don't tell me, you've left me for that mangy fish breath, have you?!"

Ianto's head shot up so fast he nearly gave him self whiplash. Owen was crouching in front of him, a wide grin on his face. Ianto froze, clutching the lion even tighter. He couldn't breathe. He gasped, trying to draw in air. Owen. Owen was-

"Oi, shove off you." Owen roughly pushed the lion to one side, gathering Ianto up. "Breathe Yan. Hey, Deep breaths, calm down." Owen rubbed small circles on his back. "Shh, that's it. Calm. It's okay. We're both here."

Ianto's breath hitched, stuttered, and started back, slowly calming.

"O- Owen?"

"Yeah. Jack told you he'd bring me here, didn't he?" Owen pulled away and held Ianto at arm's length.

"You're shaking, Luv. As much as I love the view, you should wear more clothes. Don't want you catching cold, do we?" As he spoke, Owen checked Ianto's pulse then ran hands over Ianto's body, looking for injuries, more out of habit than actual need, before belting the great coat securely closed. "You stole my buttons." He said, flicking the bits of metal.

Ianto simply blinked up at him. Owen was here. He was here and Jack was-

"Owen?! Oh- oh god! You're alive! you're here!" Ianto threw him self at Owen, knocking him to the dirt ground outside the mausoleum and kissed him, hard and deep.

-

Owen made a happy, slightly startled noise at the impact, and wrapped his arms tightly around Ianto, holding on for dear life. Oh thank every non-existent god! He'd really been thinking he'd never get Ianto back.

Ianto's hands roamed all over his body, like it was the first time he had ever touched him. He gasped into Owen's mouth, pushing his hands up inside his shirt, over his sides and chest.

When they finally had to come up for air, Owen grinned up at Ianto, hand stroking his cheek. "Oh Ianto. God, you're okay. I've been so fucking worried!"

"You're okay? You're really okay? You-you died. I- oh god I killed you! Owen, I'm so, so, so sorry!" Ianto's fragile control slipped, and he sobbed, burying his face against Owen's neck, holding him tighter.

"Shhh, shh, Yan it's okay. It's okay! It was a accident, you didn't mean it. It was my fault, I should have known better then to go playing around in your head. It's my fault, I must have done something to set you off. God Yan, I've been so fucking scared the last few days, and you were here for months.. I'm so sorry." Owen clung to Ianto and closed his eyes tightly against the tears that threatened.

He'd been so fucking stupid. He should have known better then to go poking around Ianto's head, in the state he was in. If he hadn't been stupid, none of this would have happened, they'd still be at home, happy and fine.

Jack wrapped his arms around both of them and kissed the top of their heads. "It's okay, we're all okay, and we're going to be fine. We're all here, and we're gonna get out, and go home and- and everything will be perfect again."

Owen nodded, moving just enough to let the wolverine, who had been growling and chewing on his pants, closer to Ianto. The wolverine used Owen as a ladder, snuggling in against Ianto's chest.

The three of them lay in the grass at the entrance to the mausoleum, huddled in each others arms.

Eventually Ianto's hiccupy gasps had calmed, and Owen finally decided he wasn't going to burst into tears. Dog had somehow managed to wiggle between them and was studiously licking a grumbling wolverine, while Lion had plastered itself against Ianto's back, one tentacle was furtively working on the belt holding Ianto's greatcoat closed.

Owen whacked at the purple tentacle, shifted and poked the other two. "...it's getting a bit hard to breathe with the two of you on top of me, shift over."

Jack laughed and sat up, pulling Ianto with him.

Ianto stroked Owen's cheek, looking amazed that he had his lovers again.

Owen rubbed at his eyes and tear streaked cheeks, and remembered what Jack ad filled him in on. "So....home sweet home?" He nodded his head towards the crypt.

Ianto nodded.

"And what's this I hear about you frying your brain?!"

Ianto suddenly found a piece of grass fascinating, and refused to meet his eyes.

"Ianto." Owen's voice was firm, as he scowled at his lover.

Ianto sighed and looked up, leaning back against Jack, like the older man could protect him "I had to. It was the only way to make it safe for you to come here. I could have killed you again."

"Ianto Jones, are you insane?! You _damaged your brain_!"

Ianto shrugged, though his hands twitched nervously. "So? Only a little. What's it matter? It was a horrible, good for nothing power. It's safer now."

"Ianto what am I thinking. What am I feeling? Are my powers bugging me? Does my head hurt?"

Ianto stared at Owen, and then ducked his head.

"You didn't just destroy your- your- head-blowing-up power, you destroyed all of your powers!"

"I- uh..."

Owen saw him pale visibly.

"Oh dear." Ianto murmured, and Owen fought the warring urges to both cuddle and strangle his lover.

"Yeah 'oh dear'. What are you going to do when one of us zones? When Jack ends up in a whimpering ball of pain because we ordered take out, and someone put too much spice in his food, when I'm gasping for air on the floor, feeling like railroad spikes are being driven into my brain, because I forgot to close the blinds? How are you going to help us then? You're our guide. We need you. You're not just hurting your self, you're hurting all of us. We're a team, Yan!" Owen knew making Ianto feel guilty, and flaring up his need to protect them was the best possible way to make Ianto want to fix this.

Jack shifted, sifting his fingers through Ianto's hair.

Ianto's mouth opened, then fell shut, realization falling across his face, with dawning horror. "I uh...I have the knob..." he turned, rummaging through the tall grass. The dog scampered into the mausoleum, returning with a broken knob in his mouth, handing it to Owen.

Ianto took it, turning to look at the ragged shaft that had connected it to the tree. "Maybe…maybe I could put it back on?" he looked backup at Owen hopefully.

Owen sighed and pulled him in by the back of the neck and kissed him. "Yeah, let's try that. Got any duct tape?"


	38. Chapter 39

The attempts to reattach the knob were not going well, and Ianto was beginning to feel frustrated. Jack had tried talking him through reattaching it by imagining the two pieces melding together again, but that had just resulted in headaches all around. Ianto was just glad that Jack hadn't been elected guide in this partnership. his "guide voice" inevitably became his "seduction voice" and made it impossible to concentrate.

Owen had started in on more literal solutions. The duct tape wouldn't stick to the bark, the nails and hammer wouldn't go though the hard plastic, and the super glue bottle was glued shut.

Ianto pulled a bar of soap from thin air and tried using that to reattach the knob as a latch ditch effort. All he got was strange looks from Jack and Owen. "It didn't work for Mary Martin either." Ianto mumbled

"You watch too many musicals mate."

Ianto opened his mouth to respond to Owen, when a feeling of dread washed over him. He turned his head sharply, away from the clearing, towards the woods. "Did you hear that?!"

Jack blinked and looked where Ianto was looking, tilting his head and focusing in on his senses. "I don't hear-" Jack was cut off when a twig snapped audibly, followed by the crunching of fallen leaves. "Okay yeah, I hear something."

Ianto shrank back. A loud crack of thunder boomed though the woods and a torrential downpour started, like someone had upended a huge bucket of cold water over their heads.

Owen cursed loudly, uselessly throwing his hands over his head. "What the fuck?! Where the fucking hell did this rain come from?!"

Ianto stood frozen, staring in horror at the now suddenly dark woods. "....it's here...." he turned. "Jack, it's here."

Jack's hands wrapped around both his lovers arms and pulled them into the safety of the mausoleum. "Well that was unexpected. Ianto, you alright?"

Ianto shivered, staring out the door, then suddenly looked around sharply, counting heads. Wolverine was at the entrance, snarling at the edge of the woods. Darting forward, Ianto snatched the small animal up by its back legs, clutching it tightly, and mostly upside down, against his chest.

With one hand he slammed the gate closed, locking it with the large bolts that suddenly appeared. Ianto's breath started to hitch, his breaths coming in smaller and smaller gasps as he fought not to panic.

Jack carefully righted the wolverine then wrapped his arms around Ianto and hugged him, whispering soothingly. "It's okay, it's okay, it's just a storm. Nothing to worry about."

Owen pushed his hair back, scowling. "Great. Now we're soaking wet, cold and in a big, freezing, dark, stone tomb!"

Ianto's mood suddenly changed again and he moved over to Owen's side to fret over him, casting glances back towards the gate "Owen you should get out of those wet clothes before you get sick!" As he spoke several lit sconces appeared along the walls, brightening the crypt.

"I'm fine. Just...wet. And cold."

Ianto was already pulling Owen clothes off and handing them to the lion to hang up over a radiator that appeared under the memorial plaque. "Come on, sit down while your things dry." Ianto ordered pushing Owen towards the pile of straw, and wrapping him in a blanket that had materialized in his hand.

Owen dug his heels in. "I have hay fever!"

Ianto frowned and looked from the straw to Owen and back. "Not even with sheets?"

Owen shook his head.

"...oh. That won't work then."

"Why straw anyway?" Jack nudged the bedding with his foot.

"It was for Dog, but then he started making me sleep too." Ianto shrugged.

Owen snorted and then scowled as he looked around the mausoleum again.

"You're too fucking morbid, Yan. A crypt? Seriously? I feel like I'm living in Buffy The bloody Vampire Slayer!"

"No Spike here though...that would perk this place up." Jack said in amusement while he pulled his own sodden clothes off and hung them up.

Ianto swatted Jack on the arm and looked around. It had been fine when it was just him. He thought briefly of replacing the stone boxes with a bed, bout couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead he walked over between the coffins, pushing the pile of straw aside, to reveal a trap door.

He pulled the door open. "Come on, come downstairs."

Owen and Jack exchanged looks, then followed Ianto down the stairs, the spirit guides at their heels.

---

They found them selves in a large gothic bedroom, to match the crypt. Candles flickered around the edges of the room and the stone floor was warm under their feet. A fire crackled in a deep set fireplace alongside one wall.

In the center of the room sat a richly carved, enormous, bed covered in white silk sheets.

....complete with rose petals.

"...has Ianto been reading romance novels or something?" Owen whispered to Jack.

Ianto snorted and nudged Dog. "The flowers weren't my idea." Dog looked up at Ianto innocently.

Jack shrugged and moved forward, wrapping his arms around Ianto from behind, resting his chin on his shoulder. "Much, much, _much _better. But I feel a urge to pout that I had to sleep on straw last night."

"That was days ago."

"Days?" Jack felt his stomach sink.

"Mmm." Ianto hummed, before changing the subject. "And you don't have allergies."

Jack gave Owen a look over Ianto's shoulder, and Owen looked back at him angelically.

"So you like it?" Ianto seemed a bit anxious, looking at Owen and Jack.

Owen joined Jack, sandwiching Ianto between them. "It's great, Luv." Owen gave him a playful grin. "You know...I'm noticing all of a sudden, we're all lacking in the clothes department."

Owen shifted, "What-" he pulled as Jack pushed and Ianto landed sprawled on the bed. "do you think we should do about it?"

Ianto grinned.

Jack gave Owen a slight push, and then followed him down on to the soft mattress.

Next chapter is PWP and found on my Live Journal. http : // dru-evilista dot livejournal dot com / 94706 dot html # cutid1


	39. Chapter 41

Ow. Fucking sun. Owen rolled over and buried his face into the neck of the body next to him. He sniffed. Ianto. He snuggled in more, breathing in his scent.

....hold on. Sun? Owen's eye cracked open cautiously, and turned around again to stare at the window, perfectly positioned to let in the morning sun. "....weren't we underground last night?"

"Mmm" Ianto said, lazily mouthing at the bite mark on Owen's neck. "Sun's good. No sun underground."

Owen pulled the blanket over his eyes. "Can we go back underground? It's too early for a migraine."

As soon as he spoke, the room dimmed, the windows turning to stained glass. When Owen looked, he saw a mosaic of himself in a suit of armor, killing a gigantic spider. He snorted. You squish one bug for someone… "Still haven't forgotten that?"

"Don't laugh." Ianto murmured against Owen's skin "My brave, handsome hero." One warm hand snuck around Owen's waist, tracing teasing circles over his thigh.

"It wasn't that big."

Ianto made a doubtful humming sound.

"...that's a handy trick." Owen waved a hand towards the window. "Too bad that doesn't work in the real world."

Owen yelped as he felt a friendly swat against his and Ianto's hips. "Keep it down." Jack grumped, burying is face against Ianto's neck. "Trying to sleep."

Ianto wriggled around until he was facing Jack, swiping a playful lick along the cleft in his chin. "Morning, love."

Owen grumbled as Ianto moved, and snuggled back up against the warm body, drifting off again.

Jack shifted, pushing him self up against the pillows, and Owen sighed, stretching and forcing himself to wake up. At the foot of the bed the wolverine grumbled, and jumped down, shuffling over to join the sleeping lion and dog curled up on the stone hearth. He flopped down with a huff, glaring at Jack.

"So Ianto..." Jack started, pulling Ianto in to curl up against his side. "fill us in. What have you been doing all these...months."

Owen pulled back a bit to watch Ianto, who shrugged.

"Sleep, hunt a bit sometimes with the Dog, ...sleep. There really wasn't much to do."

Owen winced. Oh yeah. That was healthy.

"You couldn't imagine a sudoku book?"

Ianto laughed. "They're not as fun when you're not hovering over my shoulder giving me the wrong answers. I tried returning… but I couldn't feel anyone. There was nothing to draw me back to the real world. What about you? It's really only been a couple days for you?"

Jack nodded. "Just two or three days. You ran away, and when we found you, you were..." Jack paused and rubbed his face.

"I was what?"

Jack looked away. "You were...god Ianto, it was horrible. Worse then any of your zones, you were so still, and- and. God!" Jack doubled over, looking to be in physical pain.

Ianto's eyes widened and he franticly petted Jack.

Owen reached around Ianto to hold Jack's hand. "It- it wasn't good Ianto. We were scared shitless. You were so cold, and still, and your vitals were in the ground."

Outside the window the sky darkened.

"After we got you dried off and warmed up, you spiked a fever and scared us even more. We didn't leave your side for days. Couldn't get a response out of you, and you weren't sleeping, just laying there."

Ianto hugged Owen and Jack. "I'm sorry. I- I didn't mean to scare you..."

"It's my fault, not yours." Jack and Owen said, nearly in unison.

Ianto sighed. "It's- it's no one's fault. If it's anyone's fault it's the person who made the bloody deviled egg, that zapped us, and gave me these...powers. I killed you. _I killed you_. If Jack wasn't...Jack you'd both still be dead and I'd be..."

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the window bricked itself over. Owen couldn't be sure but it felt colder. He wondered if they were underground again.

"Ianto-"

"And that's what we're trying to get back. That's what we have to get back, if we're all going to live, and stay sane. What are we going to do? What if I hurt you again? Or Tosh, or Gwen, or some random person who startles me on the street? I'm a walking time bomb!"

Jack pulled Ianto close. "Yan. Stop. Breathe. Calm down. We'll think of something. Find a way to diffuse you, without totally wiping out your powers, or something."

Owen leaned against Ianto, rubbing his arm. "Yeah, we'll figure something out. We won't let anything happen."

"What if we can't? What if it's an all or nothing situation? What if-"

"It's not. It can't be. I refuse to believe that." Jack pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "Now calm down, okay."

Ianto nodded, nuzzling into Jack's chest.

"...so what was with that storm?" Owen asked, trying to divert the conversation "I didn't think imaginations could have bad weather."

"Um...It happens when I'm scared..or sad. The- the monster..."

A crack of thunder split the air.

Owen and Jack exchanged worried looks. "Ianto? Sweetheart, what monster? You said something about that, the first time I was here. Talk to us. We can't help you, if you don't tell us what's going on."

"There's a monster. I don't know what it is, but it- it was inside the bubble. Ever since I first got trapped in here, it's been chasing me. I ran, and ran, but it just kept chasing me. I was so scared, but I couldn't get away...and you were both dead, and I just wanted to die too. It chased me here."

Owen felt a stab of pain in his heart, and hugged Ianto tightly.

Ianto took a shuddering breath and continued speaking. "I was so tired. I'd been running for so long, so hard, and I was so tired. I fell, and suddenly I wasn't in the woods anymore, I was here. The...thing from the bubble hadn't followed me, I was safe."

"Can it come in here?" Jack asked.

"No. No I don't think so. It's never even come close before."

"That's good at least." Owen said. "Then what happened?"

"I- I made the crypt for you. And well then time passed, more and more, I was trapped in my mind, my lovers were dead, and outside this place a monster was waiting for me." Ianto's voice was quiet.

"Oh Ianto..." Jack hugged him, stroking his hair.

"What about this monster? What's this bubble you're talking about?" Owen questioned, eying Ianto.

"...I didn't tell you about that?"

"Clearly, no. Start talking."

A large table covered breakfast food appeared. Eggs, toast, pancakes, cereal; hot and cold, bacon, sausages, every breakfast food you could want, weighed down the table.

Owen raised an eyebrow.

Ianto shimmied down the bed and slipped off over the foot board. "Breakfast! Most important meal of the day you know!" He grabbed a handful of sausage, busying himself with using the food to wake their guides.

"Ianto." Owen knew what he was doing, and he wasn't going to let him get away with it.

"What? Breakfast is important! You're a doctor, you should know that. Coffee?" Ianto asked brightly, nodding his head at the carafe, and Owen suppressed a shiver at the smell of Ianto's best coffee wafting at him. He would not succumb!

"Ianto,"

Ianto focused entirely on Lion who had eaten all of the sausage and was searching for more. Ianto pulled a piece from the air behind a furry pink ear. The animal squealed in delight, tentacles waving excitedly.

"Lion! Stop that." Jack threw a pillow at his guide. "Ianto." Jack waited until his lover was looking at him.

"We'll eat, but only if you keep talking. We need to know what's been happening with you. Would you let us hide problems with our senses from you?" Jack looked him in the eye, as he calmly asked the question.

Ianto sighed and slumped down against Dog. "Fine. I first noticed it when I was meditating after the- after the thing with the weevils. It was a bubble. An invisible area I couldn't get into in the middle of the woods. Like a perception filter, my mind didn't want to look at it. I wanted to walk around it, without thinking about it. But I noticed it, I tried to get in. I tried physical force, I tried using my powers, I tried climbing a tree and dropping down on it, nothing worked.

"It wasn't until after I killed you..when I killed you. The bubble disappeared, and there was something inside."

Owen's frown deepened.

"So, um. Yes. Like I told you, the thing from the bubble chased me for hours, until I collapsed from exhaustion, and ended up here. Until yesterday, I haven't seen...well heard, or sensed it. And that's what's happened over the last few months." Ianto rubbed his face, then stood again, moving towards to table. He nibbled on a piece of toast. "You should- you should eat something."

"Thing? What's it look like? A wolf, bear, lion, the alien from Alien? Manbearpig? What?" Owen asked, joining Ianto at the table and chewing on a strip of bacon.

"I- I don't know. I can't see it. It's...just there. I can hear it, I can- I can feel it. But I can't see it."

Jack sighed and got out of bed, to grab a plate, and pile some food onto it. "So you've been living in fear or some invisible monster for months?"

"...it sounds silly when you put it that way..."

"No, no, shh. I didn't mean it that way. You have every right to be scared. You thought your lovers were dead, you were alone, with a invisible monster chasing you. Who wouldn't be scared?" Jack soothed, putting down his plate to wrap his arms around Ianto.

Ianto sighed. "I should be braver. I've worked for Torchwood for years. I've faced Daleks and Cybermen. I've almost been eaten by cannibals. I've seen the worst the universe can throw at me, yet something I can't even see terrifies me."

Owen sighed and joined Jack, pulling Ianto into a hug.

"We'll take care of you. There's nothing out there the three of us can't handle." Jack told Ianto confidently.

Owen wasn't so sure, but at least they would try.

Jack kissed Ianto, then settled him down in a chair with his plate. "Eat up, and we'll start working on new plan of attack for fixing your powers, and getting us all home."

Owen grabbed a plate and set at the table, wondering if they'd be able to do it.

He swatted at an errant tentacle. "Oi you, that's not a sausage. Go bother Ianto."

---


	40. Chapter 42

They sat in a warm patch of sunlight, legs crossed under them, Jack and Owen holding Ianto's hands while their guides sat next to them, heads in their laps.

Reattaching the dial had failed miserably, and they had finally decided to simply work on getting Ianto into the real world. There would be time enough to work on fixing Ianto's sixth sense when he was safely back with Jack and Owen in Tosh's bedroom.

After a quick break for lunch, and a slightly longer break for another romp in the underground bedroom, they had settled down in the long grass.

Jack spoke softly and calmly, doing his best impression of Ianto's guide voice. "Okay Ianto. Picture your body." Jack paused, tilting his head as he thought about the image, and Owen elbowed him in the ribs.

Jack cleared his throat. "Picture your body. You're stretched out on Tosh's bed, under the covers. Picture your features, think about what you look like." He did the same himself, constructing a picture of the three of them, laying in the large bed. "Now see the long, thin golden string connecting you to your body. It's strong, see it get stronger. See it get thicker, and feel it go taught. It's pulling you back into your body."

Ianto was not relaxing, hand twitching as he fidgeted. Jack opened his eyes and saw Ianto nervously looking around the clearing. "Ianto, come on. You wanna go home right? You wanna see Tosh and Gwen? See and hold Owen and me for real? You gotta concentrate, okay? I want you back in that hot little body of yours so I can shag you senseless."

Ianto startled then laughed, and Owen rolled his eyes, creating a thin golden rope. He tied one end to Ianto's wrist and the other to his own.

"Just follow me, Yan." He said, and squeezed Ianto's hand before fading, along with his wolverine. The rope hung in the air, disappearing in to thin air.

The younger man settled down again. Jack followed suit, and focused on Ianto, giving him a little shove in the direction that Owen had disappeared. At the same time the golden rope grew taught, tugging Ianto forward.

Jack felt his hands hit the ground as Ianto disappeared from the forest then felt the tug to go back, and followed it, eyes opening to bright sunlight streaming into Toshiko's bedroom.

Owen was already sitting up leaning over Ianto.

"Owen? Ianto?"

Ianto made a small groaning noise, hand clumsily lifting a few inches before flopping back down by his side. "Jaaack?" He asked in a quiet slurring voice, head rolling on the pillow.

"Ianto?! What's wrong?!" Jack leaned over him, franticly checking him over with his senses.

"Tired." Ianto yawned.

Owen finished his examination and slumped, rubbing his face. "It's okay Jack. It's fine."

Ianto made a disgruntled 'hrmph'.

"Being active in meditation wears him out. We were shagging like bunny rabbits and all...he's gonna need some rest. Otherwise he looks fine." Owen tucked Ianto's arms back under the duvet.

Jack kissed Ianto's forehead, stroking his hair back. "Sleep sweetheart. When you wake up...when you wake up we'll talk more."

Ianto hummed his agreement then slowly stretched, rolling over. He was asleep before his body completely stilled.

Jack watched him for a few minutes listening to his heart and breathing, slow and deep with sleep.

Owen kissed the back of Ianto's neck lightly, not waking him, then kissed Jack. "I'm gonna go talk to the girls, let them know what's happening."

As Owen shifted his weight to get off the bed, Ianto's arm snaked out, wrapping around Owen's waist, pulling him off balance and hugging him close like a teddy bear.

Jack laughed quietly. "I don't think you will be. I'll go."

He was pulled down just as quickly, and Owen smirked at him. "Looks like neither of us are going anywhere for a while. Hope you don't have to piss."

Jack snorted and settled down, draping his own arm over Ianto. Dog jumped up on the bed, curling up on the foot.

"Can you reach your mobile?"

Owen tried, but was stopped my a low, sleepy grumble from Ianto when he leaned too far away. "… Think they can wait?"

Jack snickered, and looked at the clock on the side of the bed. "They'll be barging in soon anyway." He buried his nose in Ianto's hair, relaxing into the soft mattress. "That's soon enough."


	41. Chapter 43

Owen sat at the counter, eating some of the left over soup Rhys had made, Jack next to him doing the same. Neither had bothered to heat it up, choosing speed over taste.

They'd managed to wiggle away from Ianto and call the girls.

("We've got the it!"

"Is it a super weevil?"

"How do we tell?"

"Check the inside of its lip."

"...no fucking way.")

Now they were just waiting for them to get back. Ianto hadn't woken up, but they didn't want to leave him alone too long.

They looked up as the door opened, letting Gwen and Tosh into the flat. Tosh cradled a tray of coffees in one hand.

"Hey, how did it go? Is Ianto okay? Where is he?" Gwen demanded looking around, as if expecting him to be hiding under the couch.

"It worked, he's back, but he's wiped out. He's sleeping. He's okay. You can swarm him when he wakes up." Jack tried to answer all of the questions he knew Gwen would ask.

"He's really okay? You got him? Nothing went wrong?"

"Well...his power's are still screwed up, but other then that..."

"His powers?"

Jack made an affirmative noise around a mouthful of potato and carrot.

Owen sighed. "He sort of gave him self brain damage. Broke his powers. We were trying to fix them, but we decided it was more important to get him home right now. Ta." He took the coffee from Tosh, breathing in the rich warm scent.

"What?!"

Jack pressed his hands against his ears as both woman howled, outraged.

"_Ianto _is _fine_." Ianto muttered, yawning as every head in the room swiveled to stare at him.

He snorted and limped past all of them, opening the fridge door and sticking his head inside. He looked awful. Like he hadn't slept or shaved in a week, after a month long drinking binge. His bandaged feet and twisted pajama bottoms didn't help any.

"Oh, _precious_! How are you feeling Luv? What happened? Are you okay?" Gwen asked, hurrying over and stroking his shoulder comfortingly..

Ianto jumped, banging his head on the corner of the open refrigerator, the pulled back, eyeing Gwen, with a roll stuffed into his mouth. He closed the door, chewing before speaking. "I'm fine Gwen. Still more then a little tired, famished. Head hurts now. But I'm alright."

"Owen said you have brain damaged!"

Ianto winced. " ...only a little."

"Oh sweetheart..."

"Really Gwen, I'm fine. I just can't...feel anyone. Toshiko, I'm really really sorry for all the trouble we've put you though. Taking over your flat and all..."

"It's no trouble. You know, you're family." Tosh hugged him carefully.

Ianto rubbed his eyes and leaned against the counter. Owen reached over to stroke his hair, trying to smooth down an errant curl. "You really need a shower. And a shave. You look like a bum."

Ianto snorted. "I love you too." He ran his hand over his chin, and made a face as he felt the short scratchy hairs. "I'm not sure whether to be grateful or embarrassed that someone apparently gave me a bath."

"That was me." Jack said helpfully, leering. "It was my pleasure."

Tosh giggled and gestured towards the bedroom. "The bathroom is though there, if you want to take a shower."

"Bath" Owen interrupted, "And try to keep your feet out of the water."

"-Bath." Tosh agreed. "We bought over some of your stuff. Clothes and toiletries and such."

Ianto flashed her a smile. "A long bath sounds very good. Tosh, you are a life saver. Thank you." He popped the last bite of roll into his mouth and headed back though the bedroom doors. He made it as far as the couch before doing a swift about face, hobbling back to the kitchen. He dove into the fridge again, coming out with a hunk of cheese, a small bunch of grapes and another roll.

He seemed to consider something for a moment and then quickly snatched Owen's coffee, making his getaway at a fast limp. Owen balled up his paper towel and threw it at Ianto's retreating back.

The group watched him go, and waited until the bedroom door was closed to speak. "He- He's going to be okay, though, right? You said brain damaged, he seemed okay, not...brain damaged." Gwen asked Jack worriedly.

Jack shrugged helplessly. "We just don't know yet. He broke the dial, and so far we haven't been able to reattach it, we're hoping to try again after Ianto's more rested and on his feet." Jack took another bite of soup. "figuratively."

Tosh slumped down next to Jack. "God, this is all so....strange. And stressful."

Jack wrapped a arm around her shoulders. "It'll be fine. We'll work everything out, Ianto will be fine, we'll all be fine. Perfectly fine."

Owen just carefully moved his bowl out of the way and thunked his head against the counter.

---

Owen poked his head into the bathroom, then stepped in an smirked down at Ianto, asleep in the tub, feet sticking over the lip of the tub.

He knelt down, and threaded his fingers though Ianto's wet hair. "Raise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. The girls are having fits worrying, time to go let them coddle you for a while."

Ianto gave him a sleepy scowl. "I'm comfy."

"You're lucky you didn't sink under the water and drown your self." Owen snorted, still stroking his hair. "Besides the water's gone cold. Come on. Up you go." Owen helped Ianto out of the tub, and tossed a towel over his head.

Ianto laughed. "What? You're not gonna help dry me off?"

Owen rolled his eyes, and kissed Ianto. "Hurry up...and shave. You look like a caveman."

Ianto smirked, scuffing his beard against Owen's cheek. "I don't know...I was thinking of keeping it. You know, for a change."

"Well, you'll certainly scare all the prospective tourists off. Possibly get arrested for being homeless."

Ianto rolled his eyes, and gave Owen a shove out of the bathroom, to finish cleaning him self up.

Tosh and Gwen's eyes shot to Owen when he came back into the living room. "He's fine, he's finishing up and should be out here in a few more minutes."

"You're sure? Maybe you should stay with him. He's still weak, he could faint or something." Gwen said, chewing on her thumbnail, looking worried.

"Who's the doctor here, huh? He's okay, Gwen. I swear, he's going to be fine. You'll see for your self any minute now." Jack reassured her.

Gwen sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I know. I _know_. I just- I'm worried. Ianto's one of my best friends, we got close, while you were...um away. And seeing him like that..." Gwen shivered and wrapped her arms around her self.

Jack pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "We know. We all feel the same way. None of us ever want to see Ianto like that again, and hopefully we never will."

Gwen sniffed and wiped at her eyes with her fist, and Jack reached out pulling Tosh and Owen into the hug.

"...am I interrupting something? I could wait in the other room if you want?" Ianto's voice sounded amused, and he was leaning casually against the door frame, smiling at the group hug.

Tosh and Gwen pulled away from Jack and Owen, and rushed over to Ianto, gently tugging him over to the couch, settling him down. "Oh Ianto... how are you feeling? Do your feet hurt? Maybe Owen should change your bandages. Does anything else hurt?" Gwen questioned stroking his damp hair off his face.

"Are you still hungry? I could get you some more food." Tosh offered, sitting on the edge of the seat, ready to leap up to get him anything he wanted.

Ianto hook his head, smiling slightly. "I'm fine. Really, I am. My feet are fine, I'm still a little hungry, but I'm not starving anymore, there's no need to worry."

"Worry...oh god!" Gwen leaped back, eyes the size of dinner plates. "Oh god, Ianto are you okay?! We're worrying near you! I remember how much that hurts you..."

Ianto shook his head. "Gwen, my powers....are well gone. I can't feel a thing. Worry away. But really, there's no need. I'm fine."

Owen pushed over and sat down at Ianto's feet with a medical kit. "Oh yeah. You're the picture of health. Wanna go for a nice long run now?" Owen's voice was dripping with sarcasm as he started undoing Ianto's bandages.

Ianto scowled and leaned forward to swat Owen. "Hush. So I'm not back to perfect shape, but I'm not on death's door step and like everyone keeps acting."

Jack leaned down and kissed the top of his head. "We know, but we still worry. You've put us though the ringer for the last few days. Let us coddle you for a while, huh?"

Ianto sighed, but smiled at Tosh when she bought him a warmed bowl of soup, and more rolls.

"I figured you're still hungry, and you need to recover lost stores, get some vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats, and things, so eat up." Tosh told him, placing the breakfast tray over his lap.

Owen looked up from his cleaning and bandaging job and nodded his approval. "Need to get your strength back. After you eat, you should go back to sleep for a while. You'll need all the energy you can get if we're going to get to work on fixing your head."

Ianto sighed, nibbling on a roll. "Owen-"

"Don't make me break out the restraints, in a non-kinky sex way."

Ianto rolled his eyes laughing. "Fine, fine, fine. I'll behave and rest and everything, but after that..."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll back off when you stop looking like you're going to pass out at any second."

Ianto settled back on the couch, relaxing with his food, content surrounded by the people who loved him.


	42. Chapter 44

Jack's head popped up from the book he was pretending to read, as he heard Ianto moving around in Tosh's room. He set it aside carefully, more concerned about the crisp pages then keeping his place, before tuning his hearing towards the small bedroom.

True to his word, and Owen's threats, Ianto had gone and laid down for a nap. Jack and Owen went with him, although eventually Jack's insomnia had reared it's nasty head, forcing Jack to leave before he woke his lovers. Owen had merely grumbled, rolling until he bumped into Ianto, and drifting off again.

The door squeaked softly and Ianto limped out of the bedroom, giving Jack a sleepy smile.

"Hey. Sleep alright?" Jack asked, as he started to push himself out of the chair. Ianto pushed him back down, before carefully straddling his lap and nuzzling into his neck.

"Mm-hmm. I'm guessing you didn't?"

"I- not so much. Owen still sleeping like the dead?" Jack asked rhetorically as he checked on Owen with his hearing, hearing the slow steady thump of his heart, and soft snores.

Ianto stiffened in his arms.

"Ian- oh shi- Ianto, I'm sorry! I'm a idiot! Log! Sleeping like a log!" Jack winced and hugged Ianto tighter, swearing viciously at him self in his head.

Ianto swallowed roughly and shook his head, forcing himself to relax against Jack's chest. "It's alright. I know what you meant."

"No it's not alright. I should know better then to say stupid things like that. You're going though a horrible time, the last couple days have been pure hell, and I, god dammit, I should not be making it worse for you!"

Ianto pulled back and looked Jack in the eye. "Jack, I'm a grown man. I won't let you treat me like a fragile flower. Okay...yes I haven't been handling all this great, but I'm not a 5 year old girl, Jack. We're in a relationship. You shouldn't have to censer your self around me, like trying to avoid swearing in front of your toddler."

"But you've been hurt and sick, and-" Jack stopped, pulling back to rub his face. "Ianto, it's been one thing after another, after another, after another, with no breaks for..god, what weeks now? Months if you count since this whole sentinel thing started. We were only just barely starting to get back to normal, when all the psychic attacks, weevils running all over, Owen getting sick, your powers, then-" he sighed. "I just don't want to put any more stress on you right now."

"Oh Jack.." Ianto bumped his forehead against his lover's, then quieted him with a kiss.

"Just give up, and surrender to being coddled for the rest of you're life. You're not escaping. Ever." Owen ordered from the doorway, before yawning.

Ianto sighed, rolling his eyes, and tossed off a sloppy salute. "Yes sir, Sleeping Beauty Sir. Our talking finally break though that coma you were in?"

"Mm." Owen wandered over and pulled Ianto off Jack, sitting him down on the couch and tapping his leg until Ianto obediently propped his feet on the coffee table.

"You shouldn't be putting pressure on those feet until they heal more."

"I'm going to go insane you know. You know me, I can't stand being idle. I'll be scrubbing Tosh's floors in the middle of the night, the moment you aren't looking."

"Restraints, Ianto. Restraints."

"Don't try to bribe me, Owen." Ianto said, voice tinged with amusement. He wrapped his hand around the drawstring of Owen's pajama bottoms, yanking him down on to his lap, and stealing a kiss.

"Don't try to get kinky on me. I don't care how horny you are, you're resting!"

Jack dramatically sniffed and wiped away a mock tear. "You're both sex obsessed, you kinky little perverts. I'm so proud!"

"Shush. No one is sex obsessed. Owen, you can not seriously expect me to just sit here." One hand snuck playfully up the front of Owen's shirt.

Owen smacked the hand. "I can, and I do. Read if you're bored. Watch tv, do crossword puzzles, sudko, just stay off your feet." Owen slid off his lap, and stood up to grab the throw draped across Jack's chair.

Ianto moaned and thumped his head back. "...are you sure I can't change your mind?" he looked up at Owen though his eyelashes, fluttering them dramatically, and licking his lower lip, obviously trying to project what Jack liked to call 'psychic orgasm waves'.

Owen twitched and leaned over kissing Ianto quickly yet passionately. "Behave, or I'll cut you off sex too. Tie you to the bed and make you watch while I shag Jack and don't let you get off."

Jack waggled his eyebrows playfully. "I think I like that idea!"

Ianto huffed. "Oh fine. I'll sit here and quietly go insane. Don't mind me."

Jack sat down, cuddling up next to Ianto, stroking his hair and holding him close. He took a moment to enjoy the warmth of Ianto's skin, the texture, the sound of Ianto's heart beating normally, for what felt like the first time in weeks. "We'll take care of you. ..._entertain _you."

Ianto laughed, and melted into Jack's side, letting out a small sigh.

Owen dropped down on Ianto other side, not quite cuddling, but sitting close to him.

Ianto tugged Owen until he was nearly in his lap again,and made a small pleased noise.

All Jack's senses, heightened or not, were attuned to Ianto. Hearing his heart and slowing breathing, feeling his muscles relaxing under his hands as he stroked Ianto gently, watching his eyes close, face relaxed and peaceful.

Then the perfect picture was ruined when Ianto frowned.

"Something wrong?"

"I- I can't feel you. You should be radiating lust, poking me but-" Ianto's eyes opened and he looked up at Jack troubled. "I can't feel you. I can't feel Owen. It's like I'm...numb."

Jack took a deep breath. "So ready to try to fix it?"

Ianto sucked in a deep breath as well and let it out slowly, then nodded. "I can't live this way. I'm just too used to feeling you, feeling everyone. I don't think I can go back now."

"Bedroom?"

Ianto shook his head and slid away from Owen and out of Jack arms, onto the floor. "Here works."

Owen groaned theatrically, playing up the situation to ease the tension. "Do I have to sit on the floor? We're not teenagers anymore, I can't feel half my body by the time we're done!"

"It's okay grandpa. You can sit on the couch." Jack said soothingly, trying to suppress a grin as he dropped down next to Ianto.

Owen's expression was murderous. "You are getting the most uncomfortable exam ever at your next physical. I think you need a lot of shots. With really huge needles. Prostate exam."

"Stop it, you're turning me on!"

Laughing, Ianto shushed them, eyes falling closed, breathing slowing and deepening almost immediately.

Owen sighed. "Ok you know what to do. Relax. Breathe."

Jack listened to Owen's voice and Ianto's heartbeat, almost instantly relaxing and let him self slip down and into the other world.

---


	43. Chapter 45

Owen opened his eyes, and felt his mouth drop open in shock.

They were back in the camp Ianto had been living in...but not. It was destroyed. Utterly, and totally torn apart. Tress ripped from the ground and thrown across the clearing, the mausoleum caved in, marble crumbling.

"What happened?" Jack gasped.

Owen fumbled behind him, and grabbed Jack's hand, unable to pull his eyes away from the destruction in front of him. "I don't know... Ianto? What happened? Do you know?"

"Ian-" Jack sucked in a breath sharply. "Where is he?! IANTO!"

Owen spun around, eyes searching the tree line, hoping Ianto had...what? Run off to take a sudden leak? "Ianto! Shit! Why the fuck didn't we think of this?! We knew he was having problems getting _out_, why would he have an easier time getting _in_? ...and... Oh shit. He doesn't have his powers anymore. Tosh and Gwen have never gotten here, neither has anyone else. Maybe he _can't _get back in!"

Jack swore and threaded his fingers though his hair, trying not to react to Owen's panic "All right. All right, so we go back, and we.... we do what we did last time? Bring him in, like we brought him out? Tie a string around our wrists and drag him in with us?"

Owen was pacing, trying to take deep breaths and stay calm. "Fine. Yeah, alright we'll try that." he stopped pacing and turned grabbing Jack's hand again, closing his eyes.

When his eyes opened again, he was not pleased. "What the fuck?! Why are we still here?!"

Jack looked around looking confused. "We've never had problems going home..."

"Is anything normal anymore?" Owen asked, voice thick. "We don't have Ianto. We're a...set. We all go together. Without him here, we're like a three-legged table, with only two legs. We don't work right. We're fucked."

Jack groaned. "Okay. Okay. Relax. We need to deal with the calmly. Freaking out cannot possibly help us. We just need to work a little harder at getting home then normal, then work a little harder at getting Ianto back here, so we can get him fixed and we can all just...go back to our normal level of weirdness."

Owen squeezed his eyes closed, rubbing his face. "Calm. Calm. I am calm. I am relaxed. I will not strangle the first person I see. Calm. _Fucking calm_!"

Jack rubbed Owen's shoulders trying to sooth him. "Come on, let's sit down, take some breaths, and try again. It might take a few tries, but we'll get home, and explain things to Ianto."

Owen squeezed his hands into fists at his sides, and then released them, trying to release his tension with them. All these months of meditation had to be good for something right?

They both sat down, facing each other, and fell into the familiar pattern of breathing and relaxing.

"Okay, so our bodies. We sitting in Tosh's living room, Ianto is probably freaking out over us. Picture our bodies; picture the cord leading from us, back to our bodies. Feel it tighten, and pull us back."

With a snap, Owen felt a brief rushing sensation, and then snapped his eyes open, back in the living room, Jack stretching next to him.

Then Jack was moving over to Ianto, he contrary to what they'd thought, he wasn't hovering over them, he was sitting on the floor, not moving.

Owen dived in, leaning over his still form, snapping into doctor mode, checking Ianto's vitals. "Ianto? Ianto, look at me! Come on, Luv. Open those pretty eyes for me!"

"If he does wake up, he's going to punch you for calling him pretty."

"That's what I'm hoping for."

Owen felt Jack's worried eyes on him, while checked Ianto over, felling him own worry growing. "He's- his vitals are okay, pulse slow, a little weak, like when he used to zone out meditating...but he wasn't in there. I-" Owen swallowed hard. "I don't know where he is."

Jack stared from Owen to Ianto, and back in horror as that sunk in. "Oh god..."


	44. Chapter 46

Ianto spun around in circles, eyes wide. "Jack?! Owen?! Where are you?!" He was alone. The woods surrounded him. No longer the cheery, shady, cool place he used to run with the dog, but now dark and foreboding. A breath of cold wind sighed through the dead branches above his head. The trees seemed larger, darker, and almost cartoonishly alive, about to reach out and grab him. His heart raced as he yelled for his lovers again.

He let out an alarmed yell as the dog appeared holding the broken dial in his mouth. It shoved the dial into Ianto's hands. Ianto looked down at it frowning. Then he heard it. A branch breaking.

He spun around.

Nothing there.

Another Snap! There it was. Even louder then before, closer. A branch crunched under the foot of something heavy. Something large. Something getting closer to him.

The dog shoved into him and nudged the dial in his hands.

Ianto threw out his hand bracing himself against a tree under the dog's weight.

A monster burst though the trees, the dim light glinted off thick, matted fur. It had to be at least 3 meters tall when standing upright, over a meter on all fours. It was heavily muscled, long gray fur, a sharp, fang filled, muzzle, long, razor sharp claws on all four of its feet.

It was a.....werewolf? Ianto felt his head spin.

The monster lunged and Ianto fell back, hitting the tree he had been leaning on.

The dial sunk into the bark, and Ianto twisted it violently, throwing up a shield, and screaming, with every fiber of his being, for Jack and Owen.

Jack and Owen hit the ground at Ianto's feet with a yelp.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Owen scrambled to his feet, eyes fixed on the drooling, snarling monster, only a few meters away from them.

Jack jumped to his feet, reaching for his gun. "Ianto? What's going on? We couldn't find you, then we went back, and you were out cold. We weren't even finished panicking, when we get yanked in here!" Jack had grabbed Ianto by the arm, shaking him slightly as he tried to look for injuries, while watching the growling beast.

"Jack, don't distract me, I'm holding back the monster!"

Owen looked from Ianto to the monster and back, and inched closer to Ianto.

Jack pulled Owen behind him, not taking his eyes off the monster, keeping his gun leveled on it. "Ianto?"

"It's...it's… I don't know! I'm a little busy trying to keep it from eating us here, Jack!"

Owen pushed himself between Jack and Ianto, patting his pockets for a gun. He swore when he couldn't find one, and reached down, grabbing a hefty stick instead.

Jack's eyes flicked from the monster, taking in its shape and features, down to the dog, lion, and wolverine. He looked back at the huge wolf, watched it moving, shadowing the pacing of Ianto's spirit guide. "Ianto...I think...I think it's you. It's part of you."

"What?! How can that...that _thing _be part of me?!" Ianto's attention wavered and the wolf lunged closer, before Ianto focused again, keeping it back.

"Owen. Walk over there." Jack waved vaguely to his left.

Owen growled, moving closer to Ianto. Jack sighed, "Now! It will be okay."

With a grumble Owen stalked off to the left, while Jack moved to the right.

The wolf's eyes flicked to the two men before returning to Ianto. The monster threw itself at the force field again, straining to reach the Welshman.

"It is." Jack said, moving back to his place beside Ianto. "It's part of you. Look at it. It's not going after anyone but you. It's not even looking at us!"

Owen looked from the wolf to Ianto, returning to his lover's side as well. "You need so much therapy."

Ianto frowned, staring intently at the snarling wolf. Jack's lion snuck forward, scooping up the furious wolverine as it bounced against the force field, clearly intent on turning the monster into dinner. The lion tutted, wrapping his tentacles around the ferocious creature and dragging it back to Ianto and his dog. When the wolverine tried to wriggle away, Ianto's large dog sat on it, keeping it still with an eye roll and a sigh. Jack snickered.

Owen nudged Ianto's shoulder lightly, careful not to distract him too much. "If you can build a whole mausoleum, you can build a simple cage. Or a really thick, bulletproof, werewolf-from-hell proof, cage. Just lock it up, and we'll figure out what to do with it later. Hire a therapist, Shock therapy or something... One problem at a time, yeah?"

Ianto snorted and rolled his eyes, but concentrated, and a large cell, like the kind they kept aliens in, appeared around the wolf. It fluctuated, shrinking until the monster squeaked from the tightness, fur and paws sticking out of the air holes, then growing larger, with food and water bowls and a kennel run. Eventually it settled in between, giving the monster just enough room to lie down in.

Ianto sagged slightly letting go of the focus, and the wolf howled and slammed against the glass, snarling and clawing. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't seem to do any damage to the cell.

Stepping back, Ianto studied the creature. Was that the part of him that killed Owen? Killed Jack?

Jack, slipped his gun back into his holster, and wrapped his arms around Ianto's waist, kissing his neck. "Feel better?"

"...actually yeah, I do." Ianto glanced around, and the woods seemed lighter, friendlier. He could feel sun peeking though the trees, warming him where it touched him. He hummed and burrowed further into Jack, eyes closing.

"Oi you! No sleeping. Now let's do what we fucking came here to do, and go home!" Owen ordered, pushing his hands though his hair, looking frustrated and stressed. He kept between his lovers and the werewolf's cage.

"Um...I kind of already did that. ...by accident." Ianto told him, gesturing to the tree with the dial on it.

"Oh...well good. Let's go home."

Ianto pulled Owen close, tucking in between his two lovers and closed his eyes enjoying the closeness for a long moment before he willed them back to the real world.


	45. Chapter 47

It had only been 4 days, filled mostly with sleep, baths, and the occasional (solitary) meditation. 4 incredibly boring days in Ianto's opinion, and he was starting to feel guilty that Tosh was still sleeping on the couch. Owen had only just stopped growling every time she went into the bedroom for fresh clothes.

Needing something to do and needing to get out of Tosh's flat, Ianto had ignored Owen and Jack's loud objections, and returned to the hub.

He was determined to act like nothing was wrong. It was just another day at work. Putting on a suit and tie helped. Like a suit of armor. Putting it on made him feel more...himself. He sighed in disgust at the old grey trainers that clashed with his neatly pressed trousers. It was his one concession to Owen, who was still concerned about his injured feet. Jack had simply threatened to strap him into a wheelchair if he didn't listen to Owen.

Jack and Owen herded Ianto away from the lower levels of the hub, instead of letting him locking himself in the archives. Ianto had rolled his eyes, and brought up a box of files. He set himself up in the conference room to scour over them for every bit of information he could find on Torchwood 1's weevil experiments, in between making coffee and laying his head against the cool tabletop 'just for a moment'.

--

Owen was keeping an obsessive eye on Ianto, glancing up at the conference room every few minutes. Ianto might be getting some work done, but Owen was getting even less done then usual. Jack wasn't doing much better. He was actually pretty surprised neither he nor Jack had zoned out by worrying over Ianto, yet.

Tosh and Gwen seemed to be putting their worry to work, by diving full steam into researching, and handling any rift alerts that popped up. Tosh seemed to be glad to be back on familiar ground, and Gwen was just glad to have something to do. While the guys were far too distracted to be allowed out into the field. Gwen had even offered to take over the coffee making, but no one had thought that was a good idea. Ianto might have growled a little, Owen wasn't sure. He would ask Jack later.

All in all it had been an uneventful, if stressful day.

Owen's head jerked down from looking at Ianto, towards Tosh's desk. and saw Jack do the same from the corner of his eye. Tosh had made a small, excited little gasp before jumping up from her station and heading to the conference room, eyes glued to her data pad. Owen and Jack exchanged looks, and then bolted after her.

Gwen looked up, confused at the sudden exit of her co-workers, and followed them.

When they got there, Tosh and Ianto were bent over the table gesturing and talking rapidly, comparing notes. Ianto still had crease marks on his cheeks where he had fallen asleep against a file.

"Ianto? Tosh? Care to fill in your boss?" Jack asked crossing his arms over his chest.

They didn't seem to notice him, engrossed with whatever they'd found.

Jack scowled and stepped closer to his guide.

"Oi! Someone start talking, before I start scheduling unnecessary shots!" Owen barked moving in front of Jack and landing a swat on Ianto's arse.

Ianto yelped and Tosh startled, blinking up rapidly at the others for a minute. "Oh! I'm glad you're here! We've found something! We can get a definite count on how many altered weevils there are. And we have a way to track them!" she said excitedly.

"Wait, what? How?!" Jack shoved between them, frowning down at the data pad on the table.

"There's a tracker at the base of their skull." Ianto said. "It has to be activated, until then it's undetectable, but we can activate them, and we'll be able to track down and capture the last of the weevils."

"Seriously? It's that easy?" Owen asked, taking the pad from Jack.

"Well we still have to capture them, and figure out what to do with them after we have them, but yes." Ianto agreed.

Gwen in turn took the pad from Owen and studied it. "But how will we know how many there are? We'll only know about the ones that have the tracker."

Ianto rummaged around and pulled out a file, flipping it open. "They sterilized them. Apparently they didn't want them to breed on their own. There's a lot in here about specialized breeding, mostly from dog shows or cattle farms... but the technique is the same. Some of the weevils are even listed with desirable traits."

Owen rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Fascinating. Whatever. How do we turn those trackers on?"

Ianto was already gone, nose buried in the file while he scratched notes on piece of paper.

"I can do it." Tosh said, nodding as she picked up her data pad. "It shouldn't be hard at all. Especially since we have some trackers to work with."

"Well what are we standing around for?! Move it, move it, move it! Let's get those weevils!" Jack barked clapping his hands together. "Owen, go dig around in the bodies for a transmitter. Tosh, You're the electronics genius, get to work. Gwen..help Owen. Ianto...make coffee."

The team looks unimpressed, but moved to get back to work.

Owen hung back until the others had left the room and Ianto had sat back down. He leaned over Ianto's shoulder, watching his lover work. Ianto ignored him so Owen leaned in further, breathing in Ianto's scent.

After a moment Ianto took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Owen, I love you dearly, but if you don't stop breathing down my neck, I'm going to be forced to shoot you...again."

Owen pulled back with a scowl and took half a step back.

"Keep going."

Owen took another step, leaning against the wall. He crossed his arms defiantly.

"Keep Going."

"Iaaanto!"

"Owen, I'm trying to work here! Go play with your damned dead weevils and leave me alone!"

Owen looked hurt, and Ianto winced. He spun the chair, and held out a hand for Owen. The older man, made his younger lover wait before grudgingly stepping closer. Ianto threaded his finger through Owen's belt loops and pulled him closer. He rested his head against Owen's side. "Coc Oen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. You know we're all stressed. It's just hard to focus with you standing over my shoulder like this, okay?"

Owen grumbled, and Ianto sighed, nuzzling against his stomach and sliding one hand up his lover's shirt to stroke the bare skin. The grumble became a reluctant purr.

"I'm fine Owen. Even my feet are fine. I just need to be able to concentrate on all of these files."

Owen grumbled again, and Ianto smiled despite himself. "Do you need me to go with you to the morgue? All the smells..."

Owen sighed and ran his hands through Ianto's hair. "I'm not going to make you hang out with dead weevils just because you're a grouch. I'll be fine, and if not, you're only a comm away." He dipped down, kissing Ianto.

Ianto relaxed into the kiss. "I _am _sorry Coc oen. I shouldn't have snapped."

Owen nipped at Ianto's lip then let go of him, stepping back towards the door. "I'll let you off this time, because you put extra syrup in my coffee. Next time you're getting punished."

"Promises, promises..." Ianto muttered, pitched so that Owen could hear, before turning his chair back towards the table.


	46. Chapter 48

Well this is it. The end. *looks previous accounts to how many chapters there were going to be* Um. This is chapter's 48-61. Totally. We're not bad at counting or anything like that. No not at all... *shifty look*

Thank you so much to all of our readers and reviewers! We're thrilled you liked this fic, and we hope you enjoy the end as much as you enjoyed the beginning and middle. Thanks for hanging on and still reading though this whole crazy ride all these long months.

Jack glared at the weevil behind the plexi glass, as Ianto fed the alien. "Did we have to keep one of them?"

"For research." Owen muttered, not looking up from his readings, though he snarled at the weevil, as he got too close to Ianto.

"Jack, Owen stop acting like children. He's harmless."

Frankie, the weevil, snarled then flinched when Ianto pinned him with a glare.

"Alright, everyone is fed, all the humans are properly caffeinated, time to meditate."

Owen mumbled something, not really paying attention as he stepped closer to the cell, still taking readings.

Ianto sighed. "Jack: would you?"

Jack snorted and rolled his eyes. He plucked the computer out of Owen's hands, stuffing it in his pocket, threw the yelping medic over his shoulder and bounced out of the vault, Owen's protesting howls echoed, making the weevils hiss and snarl.

Ianto laughed, shaking his head, while he wiped his hands off and followed his two crazy lovers upstairs.

---

Ianto's fingers ran over the crystal in his hand, mind wandering, as Owen and Jack bickered next to him.

It had been a long, long, long few months. Now things were finely settling down, and getting back to normal. Or as normal as you could get when two of them had enhanced senses, and the third psychic powers, with the ability to blow up living creature's heads.

After a while of grumbling, shuffling, and pushing, Jack and Owen settled down next to him, taking their own crystals. Owen was _still _sulking after all these months, of his total inability to get any tingles from the crystals.

"All I'm saying is it's not fair! You and Jack are all vibrat-y and I get nothing!"

Jack grinned and stuck his tongue out at Owen. "Well, we're just better than you!"

Owen looked ready to lunge over Ianto's lap to strangle Jack, so Ianto put a hand on his knee. "Now that things are calming down again, I'll set aside some time to try to help you out with energy work, okay?"

Owen scowled and muttered under his breath.

"I heard that." Jack taunted.

"Boys! I swear sometimes I feel like a babysitter... and no! I do not want to role-play Jack!"

Jack closed his mouth and pouted slightly.

"...so Owen, do you want to play with crystals now?"

"Sure!"

"Oi! Aren't we supposed to be working on Ianto poking us, without our heads exploding?" Jack demanded, noting Ianto's shifty look.

"I- we can do that later."

"Iaaanto."

"Jack...I don't want to hurt either of you again."

"That's why you need to practice, and get control. Just like Owen and I have to practice our powers. Would you let us just slack off on testing our senses?"

Ianto scowled. "I hate it when you use logic on me. _Fine_. But if you die, you're cleaning us the mess, and I'm saying 'I told you so!', and locking my self in the vault."

"You're not locking your self in the vault." Owen told him.

"Owen, maybe you should wait somewhere else...like the pizza shop down at the other end of the Plass?"

"Shut up, and start poking, bitch."

Ianto glared at Owen and thought about whacking him over the head with one of the larger crystals. He didn't, but he thought about it.

Owen raised an eyebrow at him. "Well?"

Ianto looked mutinous.

Jack soothingly rubbed a hand up and down his spine before gently prying Ianto's fingernails out of his palm, and replaced them with a crystal. "It'll be fine Ianto. Breathe. Just breathe and relax. How about I poke you first, and when you feel more comfortable, you poke back?"

Ianto squeezed his eyes shut, fingers flexing around the crystal, breath coming harshly. He swallowed convulsively and forced him self to slowly relax. After several minutes he opened his eyes and nodded at Jack.

Ianto pushed up his shields, and waited. He felt a gentle, inquisitive, warm nudge from Jack.

Ianto let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. Nothing happened. No one's head exploded. Everyone was okay. He flashed Jack a small smile. "Uh, so far, so good."

Jack flashed him a grin, and poked at his shields a bit harder.

Ianto let out a slightly unmanly giggle. He could not believe this was actually working so well. He jumped slightly when he felt a rougher, less trained jab at his shield. Owen.

"Owen, don't surprise me like that, unless you ENJOYED the whole dying thing..."

"I don't know, I think it was kind of fun. Don't know why Jack's always whining, it wasn't that bad. Messy though...you owe me a new couch and rug by the way."

"Owen....shut the fuck up, sweetheart." Jack said sweetly.

Owen snickered, then tried to look like he was sorry.

Ianto gave him a disproving frown, secretly appreciating his attempt to diffuse the situation with humor, and looked back at Jack.

Jack smacked Owen upside the head at the same time he sent another gentle poke at Ianto.

Ianto breathed slowly, forcing him self to stay relaxed and just go with the flow. Like being at a rock concert, if you tense up and fight the loudness, it hurts more, if you just let go and go with it, it washes over you and though you without hurting.

Finely he tentively reached out and just barely, feather lightly, touched Jack's mind with his own.

Jack grinned blindingly at him. "Good Ianto! Good!"

"Jack, if you speak to me like I'm a puppy who piddled on the newspaper, one more time, I will give you decaff for a week."

"...I'm just being supportive." Jack pouted, poking Ianto back.

Ianto narrowed his eyes and gave Jack the mental equivalent of a smack to the head.

Jack laughed, and gave him a gentle shove.

The light poking and shoving continued until Ianto felt the dull throb of a headache building and called a halt. "Okay, I think it's time to end to this for now." Ianto rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes.

Owen scowled, moving instantly to Ianto's side, running a scanner; he seemed to pull out of nowhere, over Ianto.

"I'm fine Owen. It's just a headache. You know it happens after using my powers for a while."

"Shut up. Autopsy bay. Now." Owen grunted glaring half at Ianto, half at the scanner.

Ianto rolled his eyes, the headache already fading. "Owen if you keep dragging me down to run tests every time I twitch wrong, it's really not going to encourage me to tell you when I'm hurt. Or to keep using my powers."

Owen looked ready to throttle Ianto.

Ianto gave Owen a not so gentle mental shove, and followed up with a physical smack. "I'm fine Owen. The pain is already mostly gone. I'm not a fragile, delicate flower you need to coddle. I'm fine. I swear. Now come on, we have actual work, I know for a fact you have a backlog of autopsies and I have filing to do. And Jack, if that paperwork isn't finished by the end of the day..." Ianto let the threat trail off, giving Jack a look.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Jones sir." Jack, said, jumping to his feet, threw off a salute, grinning, and pulled Ianto and Owen up.

Owen scowled intently at Ianto, eye searching his face for the tiniest muscle twitch, line, any hint of pain.

Ianto physically turned Owen around and pushed him out of the conference room. "Autopsy!" Owen grumbled, but left.

Jack pulled Ianto in, kissing him deeply. He dipped Ianto back like a Hollywood starlet, before releasing him, giving him a slap on the ass and skipping out, down to his office to get started on his paperwork.

Ianto blinked owlishly for a minute before shaking his head and laughing, and headed down to the archives to get some filing done.

His eyes flicked over Owen, playing a handheld video game over a corpse, then over Jack looking at porn on the Internet, instead of doing paperwork. He rolled his eyes and kept going, hardly pausing.

Jack and Owen were goofing off. Things were finally getting back to normal in Torchwood.


End file.
